


One Thing After Another...

by FireThatFox



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Blood, Byakugan, Dimension Jumping, Don't think just read, Dubious con, During 4th shinobi war, F/M, Hokage Sakura, Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, Mother/son incest kinda but not really, Non-Cannon with Cannon tendencies, Non-Mass, Rape, Romance, Sakura kekkei genkai, Sakura new jutsu, Sex, She's a lengend in the making with other legends, Time Rewind, Torture, Violence, Zetsu's revenge, and his morbid curiosity, au-ish, brother sister incest I guess but not really, change of events, clever Hokage Sakura, dual exsistences, escaping Earth, hardly ever, missunderstandings, new Hokage Sakura, non con, off set timeline, past father daughter incest, poisons and antidotes, sake, tagging it just in case, time period chauvinism, when do I not write it?, wonderland tendencies in the begining, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:21:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 40
Words: 97,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireThatFox/pseuds/FireThatFox
Summary: Kaguya isn't who you think she is and Sakura is the Hokage.Madara didn't plan on this, but that's what you call betrayal...
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Madara, Haruno Sakura/Senju Tobirama, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Madara, One sided Tobiama/Sakura, One-Sided Zetsu/Sakura
Comments: 217
Kudos: 225





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bravefireboltgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravefireboltgirl/gifts).



> Maybe a three chapter fic...we'll see. Was supposed to be a one shot but I wanted to use the chapters for breaks.
> 
> Hope you like your fic prompt BFG.

_Isshiki stared down at Kaguya’s naked body with remorseless, cold blank eyes. “The fruits of this night labor will be all that remains of you, once our mission on Earth is complete. It seems you weren’t completely useless after all.”_

_“Bastard.” Kaguya clenched her fist at her side as the leader of Kara walked out of her bedchamber. “I’m not useless.”_

_Nine months later…_

_“Kaguya Sama please, do not scream, they will hear you in the main house.” One of the many servant girls tried to shush her mistress in vain._

_“I care not, let them hear the pains of his torment.” Kaguya tore at the sheet covering her, not caring who saw her shame._

_Her nails cracked against the pressure of her grip while the last of her soul spilled from her temple. Let them hear what he has done, let them see that I have not broken. I am more than a sacrifice, I am more! She screamed in her head as she screamed through the last of her labor pains._

_In the main house…_

_The crying of a new born baby could be heard._

_“It seems you’ll have something to come home to once your mission on Earth is complete, even if the mother will not.” Isshiki’s attendant set a glass of wine before his master._

_“A useless old tradition.” Isshiki took the glass in his hand and brought the wine to his lips. “She was hardly capable of keeping my attention for the duration it took to create that thing.”_

_“Of course sir.” His attendant bowed himself out of the room, leaving his master in silence._

_A year later…_

_“It has been a year Kaguya Sama, what will you name her?” Her maid asked her._

_Kaguya looked down at the baby in her arms, her only devotion to her existence. Made from malice, born in hatred, but held fast to her mother’s bosom with unprecedented love and admiration._

_“I will name her Sakura, for her hair and for the kindness in her soul.” Kaguya looked down into Sakura’s lavender eyes and smiled. “While I am Winter, she will be Spring.”_

_Her maid nodded. Lady Kaguya had spent the last year researching Earth for her mission and learning about it’s inhabitants, it’s seasons and it’s natural beauties._

_That night as Kaguya laid Sakura down in her crib beside her bed, she blessed her with her blood. A promise and a gift._

_Love._

_That night, baby Sakura’s eyes...turned green, and her hair, turned a soft pastel pink, as beautiful and pure as her little soul._

“Everyone stand back!” Sakura spread her arms out wide, motioning the Allied Shinobi Forces around her back and away from the pulsating bulbous form that was once Madara Uchiha.

“Hokage Sama!” Ino Yamanaka ran up to Sakura Haruno the Sixth Hokage. “We have word that the other reanimated kage are heading this way, intelligence unit one has just reported casualties from the Land of Wind, Rice and Waterfalls. All forces are converging their able bodied now, coming to assist us for…”

An invisible force exploded around them forcing their arms in front of their faces. 

“Spread out!” Sakura yelled, her voice carrying over the rush of the invisible force, breaking through the barrier with her reinforced chakra. “Stay alert!”

“Kura!” Naruto dropped down beside her.

“Sakura.” Sasuke called her name from her right. “What is that?”

“I don’t know yet, stay quiet, be prepared. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Sakura grit her teeth, the wind blowing her hair back from her face, her eyes narrowed against the dust and grime.

As one the shinobi around her gasped, as one the Allied Shinobi Forces that lined the rocky valley face...held their breath.

Sakura blinked against the glowing white figure before her, her green eyes round and unyielding. “No, impossible…” She gasped.

“I am, reborn.” Kaguya’s hands lifted to her face, her fingers tracing the arch of her brow, her eyes focusing on her surroundings. “What is this place?”

Sakura’s eyes traveled over this apparition, the body of Madara Uchiha on the ground at its feet.

“Who are you and what have you done to Madara Uchiha!” A roaring voice broke through her enlightenment, grounding her.

“Hum?” Kaguya looked down at the small woman in front of her, pushing chakra to her coils. She looked through the woman’s chakra channels and froze. “No, I think the real question is...who are you?”

Sakura growled and took a step forward, infusing chakra to her fists and leapt into the air. “Answer me damn it!” 

Kaguya smiled. “As you wish.” Kaguya’s eyes darted to the right, then the left. “First. Zetsu! Come!” 

Sakura watched in horror as the thing called Zetsu flew from Obito through the air, wrapped itself around her body as it sent tendrils through the air toward the Rabbit goddess and the body at her feet.

A connection was made.

“No!” Naruto screamed behind Sakura launching himself after her.

“Hokage Sama!” Ino screamed.

“Not this time.” Sasuke’s right hand crackled with his chidori as he sped across the rocky surface toward Sakura and her captor.

A flash of light, a pop and...they were gone.

Sakura the Sixth Hokage, Zetsu, and...Kaguya, the Rabbit goddess.

It wasn’t until several moments later when the former Hokages, in their reanimated state noticed...Madara Uchiha’s body was also missing.

Kaguya moved along the rolling hills of grass to where the pink haired woman lay. The Sixth Hokage...Kaguya blinked once, pushing the moisture from her eyes. So it had worked, her blessing.

“Mother. Forgive me mother.” Zetsu prostrated himself in front of Kaguya. “I didn't mean to bring the scum with us to your sacred place. If I had realized this is where we were going... I will remove it immediately.” Zetsu darted toward Sakura, whose fingers had just begun to twitch.

“Stop Zetsu.” Kaguya’s voice was cold, calm… “Do not touch her.”

“...but mother! She is the leader of the great shinobi village that wishes to destroy you the most!” Zetsu protested.

“She is also my...daughter.” Kaguya bent over, kneeling down beside Sakura’s still form. “It’s been a long time...Sakura.” Tears filled Kaguya’s eyes, slipped down her face and fell onto the Sixth Hokage’s cheek.

“Daughter?” Zetsu stared at Sakura and Kaguya, sure that he must have heard his mother wrong. “That’s, impossible.”

“It is not.” Kaguya looked over her shoulder at Zetsu. It is a gift I gave her, one year after her birth.”

“A gift?” Zetsu bowed his head, shifting on his feet.

“Eternal reincarnation, eternal Spring.” Kaguya ran her hand over Sakura’s cheek affectionately. “The same gift I gave to my sons.” Her white head rose, her hair fell over her shoulder as she looked at the broken body of Madara Uchiha a few feet away.

“Who is...who is the father?” Zetsu asked foolishly.

Kaguya’s hair rose up around her tendrils smashing against Zetsu’s frame locking his arms to his side and covering his mouth. “We do not speak his name.”

“What should I do now?” Kaguya looked down at Sakura’s unconscious face.

Sakura’s eyes snapped open, his fists clenched pulsating with chakra. “You die!” Sakura roared, punching out her left, then her right fist as Kaguya flew into the air avoiding her attack with ease.

“I’m not done yet!” Sakura jumped to her feet and raced along the grass, fully aware of her chances of defeating such a foe by herself.

“Kunoichi!” A deep voice came up beside her. “It seems I have been used. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Madara Uchiha raised a brow to the woman in demand.

“Asshole Uchiha.” Sakura muttered. “Wages war against the world, then turns coat and runs back when he realizes he was wrong. Is it in your blood or something?” Sakura snarled.

“Shut up and pay attention.” Madara laughed out loud dodging Sakura’s fist. “Aim for the witch not me Hokage!”

He was laughing at her...Sakura growled. “Don’t get in my way Uchiha!” She screamed, flipping over Kaguya who dodged left then right. “Got you.” Sakura crowed, the side of her fist glancing off one of Kaguya’s horns.

CRACK

Sakura flew sideways, a sharp pain in her side. “Shit.”

She clapped a hand to her hip and looked down. Blood. She dropped to the ground in a crouch and looked around frantically, where was she, where was Zetsu, they were just here…

“Annoying.” Madara Uchiha stood several feet away from her, his bare chest glistening in the fading sunlight, his hands on his hips, long spiky hair blowing in the summer breeze. “It seems, they ran away.” He turned his head and looked at Sakura over his shoulder.

“You’re hurt.” He said unnecessarily.

“No kidding.” Sakura infused her hand with healing chakra to heal her wound. “Ungh.” Sakura cried out falling to her knees.

Madara walked over to her and bent down at the waist. “Can’t heal it hum?”

Arrogant Uchiha. Sakura squinted up at the man through the growing pain in her side. Her vision going fuzzy. “Of course I can.” She grunted as she passed out.

“Sure.” Madara sighed, reaching out to lift the woman up into his arms. “Let’s find a place to rest.”


	2. Chapter 2

Madara laid the Hokage down in the small cave he had found and sighed. This certainly wasn’t what he had planned. Being used by the Rabbit goddess and her cohort Zetsu, being thrown into...or taken to wherever he was now with...Konoha’s current Hokage of all people, and a woman no less. He scoffed.

The village he had helped Hashirama to create had certainly lowered their standards since his time if they allowed women to become Hokage.

“Ridiculous.” He looked down at the woman. “She does know how to throw a wicked punch though.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

What a disappointment...after all of his careful planning and effort he had put into saving Obito only to have him turn on him. All that time wasted cultivating Hashirama’s cells and staying connected to the Divine Tree, pointless.

Where were they…

“First things first.” He dropped down , resting on his haunches as he looked over the woman who had been the first to run at him, the first to attack him on the battlefield and the first to hit him in the face since Hashirama Senju.

Lifting her up and setting her against the cave wall in a sitting position, he removed her jacket and rolled the hem of her shirt up. A five inch gash marred the surface of her otherwise flawless skin. 

“How unusual.” He would have expected her to have more scars at her age, with her title. Did the Hokage not fight as much as they did in his old days? Or was it just her? No, that wasn’t it, he had seen the lines running across her cheeks and chin, down her arms and legs...she was a healer. A healer with a wicked punch...he rubbed his chin again. Something to consider...later.

Sakura groaned.

“Awake are you?” He poked her wound ruthlessly, gathering a bit of her blood on his fingertips and bringing it to his nose. “Poison?”

“Clearly.” Sakura’s eyes opened to narrowed green slits of annoyance. “Who said you could undress me?” She bit out at him, pulling her shirt back down to cover her wound.

Madara scoffed. “I hardly undressed you woman.”

“Get away from me.” Sakura infused her hand with chakra pushing him clear across the cave. She was in pain and the last thing she wanted was Madara Uchiha of all people sitting beside her while she healed herself.

“You certainly have a short fuse don’t you love?” Madara cocked his head at her, nothing daunted by her rough treatment. In fact, he looked slightly amused at her rancor.

“Shut up.” She growled as she sifted a hand through her medic pouch, finding the antidote to the poison by feel alone. 

Madara watched as she pulled a small blue vial from her pouch and attempted to pull the cork one handed.

“Here, allow me to…” He began to walk toward her.

Pop

“Your assistance is not needed, nor is it wanted.” Sakura unended the vial into her mouth, cringing only slightly at the bitter taste.

“You certainly are a snarky one aren’t you darling.” Madara grinned at her. He was amused. It had been quite some time since he had conversed with anyone other than Obito.

“My name is Sakura, the Sixth Hokage, not darling, Uchiha.” Sakura tucked the empty vial into her pouch and healed her wound with her chakra.

“Madara.” Madara corrected her.

Sakura rolled her eyes. “I don’t care.”

“Of course you do.” He instigated.

“Excuse me?” She glared at him. This was all his fault, if he hadn’t been trying to take over the world…

“I will excuse you, this once. No doubt it is the stress of the predicament that is causing this unprofessional outburst.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“You fucking…” Sakura’s chakra flared.

“Ah ah, no need to…” Madara began, then stopped, his head snapping to the mouth of the cave.

“What are you…” Sakura was blasted against the wall of the cave, the wind knocked out of her.

Madara raced forward, grabbed the kunoichi around the waist and dragged her back, farther into the cave and away from the crumbling rocks falling around them, blocking their only known way out.

“Wonderful…” He groaned into the side of the kunoichi’s neck. He had landed on top of her, twisting in mid air, he jumped to protect her from the falling rocks.

“Get off of me you jerk!” Sakura pushed him up and off of her with the help of a little chakra.

“You’re welcome.” Madara flung his spiky mane over his shoulder and squinted into the dark. “It seems that entrance is no longer accessible.”

“Ya think?” Sakura glared at the man who had just saved her from getting crushed. “Come on, let’s look for another way out.”

Madara smiled. “Warming up to me already?”

“You talk too much.” Sakura called over her shoulder.

“Perhaps.” Madara watched the woman in front of him. There was more to her than there seemed to be at first glance. She had excellent chakra control, was a medic and a poison specialist. She wasn’t even impaired by the aftereffects of the poison that had come from the Rabbit’s horn.

He brought his fingers to his nose and sniffed again. A potent poison too.

“Kunoichi.” Madara called out to the woman. “How did you come by that antidote, did you make it yourself?”

“My name is Sakura, Uchiha, and yes I did. Please be quiet, I’m trying to think.” Sakura made a shooing motion at him with her hand.

Madara rolled his eyes. Who did this woman think she was? ‘The Hokage’, he reminded himself. “You don’t even know where you’re going woman, why are you leading?” He demanded, losing patience with her impertinence.

“You want to lead?” Sakura turned, snapping at him.

“Yes.” Madara stepped in front of her, pushing her roughly to the side.

“Be my guest, O powerful Uchiha Sama.” She mocked him.

“Naturally.” Madara smirked, walking forward, his finger tips running along the stone walls.

“Insufferable prick.” Sakura muttered under her breath.

“I’m not deaf kunoichi.” Madara spoke absently as he peered into the dim around them, ahead of them.

“How very fortunate for you.” Sakura rolled her eyes again, even though he couldn’t see her.

He ignored her.

“This way, can you smell it?” He turned down a narrow corridor to the left, his hands still feeling along the walls as they walked. “The air is warmer in this direction.”

“It feels dryer.” Sakura sniffed the air. “Lighter like…”

Madara turned left again as the ground began to slope upward. “I think this is the right way.” He called over his shoulder to her.

“I’m not so sure.” Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. 

“There’s something up ahead.” Madara slowed his pace, putting a hand out behind him making Sakura stop.

“What is it?” She looked around his back and saw an eerie sort of reddish orange glow.

“Let’s move slowly.” He cautioned.

Sakura followed him, sending her chakra out around her with every beat of her heart. She was tired and getting more and more weary with each step.

Madara raised his head, jumped up over a large boulder and stood still, his head looking down into…

“You’ve got to be kidding me. A volcano?” Sakura peered down into the molten abyss, standing beside Madara.

“It could be worse.” Madara told her.

“How?” Sakura looked up at him, her arms crossed, her eyes flashing angrily.

“You could have tripped and fallen in love.” He laughed at the deadpanned expression on her face.

“You, still have that option.” She sat down on the rock edge, her feet dangling over the side.

“Hum, no. There are better alternatives.” He looked down at her. She wasn’t looking at him though, she was looking down, watching the molten lava bubble and pop. “At least we won’t be cold tonight kunoichi.”

Sakura looked up into Madara’s glowing obsidian eyes. “I liked you better when you were trying to put all of us under your insane genjutsu.”

Madara laughed. Admittedly, he had been in worse situations, with far less interesting company and he was starting to like this odd woman, even with her snarky mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

Allenite eyes watched the woman move about the small ledge they were on. She was clearly exhausted but just as clearly she was unable to sit still. He could hear her muttering under her breath, pause every few paces, look down into the boiling pit of fiery lava, throw her hands up in the air only to resume her pacing once again.

“Sit.” He advised.

She glared at him without a word, then proceeded to ignore him again.

After their initial shock at being in the cavern of a volcano they had settled down to rest a bit. He wouldn’t admit it, but he too needed time to think. This is not at all how he had planned things to advance. All of his grueling planning was thrown out the door, smashed to the ground and shattered.

Madara’s fists clenched at his side. He had been used, like a pawn...him, Madara Uchiha.

Like all well born clan children he had learned about the Sage of Six Paths as a child but little had been known or documented about the sage’s father and of course his grandmother Kaguya, the first wielder of chakra, the Mother of Chakra.

Zetsu...he had thought ...damn that thing, damn his own arrogance...

“Kunoichi.” Madara called out to Sakura who was pacing back and forth on the other side of the ledge.

“Would you please stop calling me kunoichi, I told you my name is Sakura, or Hokage.” Her voice lacked the bite it had previously had, she was more tired than he had originally thought.

“Sit down and rest.” He commanded. Sakura blinked at him. “Kunoichi.” He added.

“Asshole.” Sakura resumed her pacing.

“If you’ll not rest, we are wasting time, come.” Madara rose from his sitting position against the cave wall and started walking along the thin ledge to the left.

“You’re going the wrong way.” Sakura watched him stop, turn and look at her. She paused, his eyes were bored, controlled and she realized...he wasn’t nearly as calm as he wanted her to think he was. She recognized an Uchiha...who was pouting. She laughed, no doubt due to her lack of sleep.

“What’s so amusing kunoichi?” he asked her, annoyed.

“Nothing.” Sakura turned around, and pointed in front of her, the opposite way he had been heading. “This is the way out.” She looked at him over her shoulder, then stiffened when she realized her mistake. She had turned her back on a known enemy. The look of surprise and...disappointment on his face was...perplexing.

“I…” She began but he cut her off.

“What makes you think that?” He demanded. There was a tingling in the back of his head, a sudden awareness of the woman that he didn’t like. That small show of vulnerability, of trust was...so utterly foolish on her part for someone of her calibre and station that he...warmth and...pain...he…

“What do you think I was doing, this whole time while you were sitting on your ass?” Her hands were on her hips and she was glaring at him again. Her attitude was back… “I was sending my chakra out, searching through the earth for changes in the structure of the cave.”

Sakura raised a pink brow at him, turned and started stomping off in the opposite direction. He stood there for a moment, thinking. After a few yards she turned back around to him.

“Are you coming?” She asked him.

“No.” Madara turned back to his narrow path and walked away from her without a word.

“Fine by me.” He heard the kunoichi mutter under her breath. 

Good, he thought to himself, less to worry about...not that he cared for the woman, an annoyance, a nuisance, that’s all she was...a pain in the ass. 

Sakura watched the Uchiha round the curve of the volcanic cavern, duck into the next open crevice and disappear. She sighed in relief. Finally, she could move on her own without a constant awareness of his oppressive presence.

Yes, she had been doing what she had said, yes , she had been searching their stone cage for a way out but she had also been reading him with her chakra, feeling his aura with her own...he was...not who she thought he was and more than his insane grin, more than his insane plan to throw the world into an infinite genjutsu...that terrified her the most.

Her thoughts went to the other two Uchiha she knew, the only other two she knew...Itachi and Sasuke. It had all begun with him, with Madara...their pain and suffering. Generations had suffered because of his...his...selfishness?

That’s what she had always thought but...the man that had been sitting on the cave floor while she had read his energy, the man who had playfully antagonized her, chided her and had saved her from being crushed earlier...was not the same man who had met her and the other four kage in battle. 

This Madara was more...human.

Zetsu...was it the absence of him that...

Sakura flexed her fingers as she walked. She had felt something when she had punched him, when they had first met on the battlefield. A small tingling sensation had started at their point of contact where she had hit him in the face. It had spread like a cold grue up her knuckles and through her palm. She could still feel it if she concentrated...like liquid energy something more than chakra. 

Awareness.

It was stronger now though and she wondered, could he feel it too? Was that why he was so...so...conversational?

‘You talk too much’, her own words came back to her now that she was alone without the distraction of his strong presence. He did, well...not too much, but certainly more than the two Uchiha she knew.

She stumbled. “Damn it.”

Reaching into her pouch she pulled out one of her food pills, one she had made herself for her specific needs and chewed it between her teeth with her eyes closed. She sighed as chakra began to regenerate behind her coils. She could feel the soothing drip of her pools refillinging, replenishing themselves. 

She knew she would need to rest soon, or risk passing out, but this would get her to her pinpointed destination that she had marked in her head. If all went as she thought, she would be able to sleep tonight, behind a carefully constructed barrier of course.

Sakura willed her feet to move, one in front of the other, soon, she promised herself she would rest. She had been awake and on her feet for over 72 hours...all thanks to Madara Uchiha...if she didn’t rest soon…

Through the dim of the cave she could see a light, faint and wavering. She squinted her eyes against the growing bright. She hadn’t realized how dark the cave had been in her weary state and reprimanded herself for her foolishness. 

She was the Hokage, she needed to keep her wits about her.

“Hokage”, she whispered to herself. She was only the Hokage because...because Tsunade had died before the war, during Pein’s attack on Konoha. The council had taken drastic measures, it had only been through Naruto, Kakashi and Itachi’s influence that she had been named Hokage.

“Itachi.” Sakura wiped the tear from her eye. He had returned to Konoha after Pein’s attack. She had fought for his pardon tooth and nail and in turn, he had fought for her, for a title she still didn’t feel she deserved.

Sakura bit her bottom lip. Alone, she could let her anxiety show, alone she could...worry.

”I’m so stupid.” She muttered to herself. 

She had shown her back to an enemy, her worst enemy. She always did this. She got too comfortable with people, she was too kind, too open...too trusting. That’s why she didn’t think she was right for the position, that’s why she didn’t deserve to be the Hokage. She didn’t think she was qualified.

She ought to have pushed harder for Naruto to become Hokage but he had told her...he wasn’t ready yet. Well, she hadn’t been ready yet either...

Sakura lifted her chin, the air was lighter, more pure. She smiled. She had found a way out.

Madara had always been a sensor nin, but he didn’t need to be a sensor to feel the pink haired kunoichi moving slowly along the twisting corridors of the volcanic mountain. His palm rubbed the spot on his chin where she had hit him. It was still tingling, only now it was warm, soothing like...

At first it had bothered him, this odd connection to the woman, because he didn’t understand it. There had only been one other person that he had felt this connection with, Hashirama Senju. Madara ran a hand through his hair, he wasn’t quite sure what he thought of the strange woman. However, there were more pressing things to worry about, he reminded himself. Like getting out of this volcano.

Madara sighed as he looked at the wall of relentless rock before him. Another dead end. Perhaps he ought to have followed that strange woman after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Kaguya ran her finger tips along the polished lacquered rail of the extravagant engawa. The lacquer was a deep dark red, the color of blood. Pale lavender eyes rose to look up at the white clouds floating overhead. Soon, she thought, they would know.

There had been a reason she had brought them together.

Resting her palms against the rail she closed her eyes, memories of her past washed over her, voices of the humans who had once been, filled her head.

Hamura and Hogoromoro, her two sons. 

Hogoromoro’s sons Indra and Asura...Hogoromoro had blessed his sons, just as she had blessed Sakura, just as she had blessed them, on the first anniversary of their birth, giving them the gift of...rebirth. Did they know, she wondered, that they were all connected, but that Sakura was the first, the first child of the rebirth…

If they didn’t, she opened her eyes to the shining sun, they would soon enough. The connection was too strong to ignore for long, they would be drawn together, even if they didn’t know why, they wouldn’t be able to resist the pull...of their connected souls.

Kaguya looked down at the grass, the tender stalks blowing gracefully in the wind. She had missed it, Earth...but this wasn’t Earth, it was merely a cheap imitation of...her past memories.

Her rebirth had taken a much larger toll on her than she had expected it would. She was weak and she needed to regain her strength for what was to come. “My final gift, my daughter.”

“Indra, you’re so much like your grandmother... and yet...” Both of her boys...they had tried to save her when she...she closed her eyes. She would make it right for them, all of them. She would give them one last gift, for Sakura’s sake, for all of those she loved that she had left behind.

“Children of my blood.” 

Zetsu watched his ‘Mother’, he didn’t understand. 

He didn’t understand why she hadn’t let him kill the woman, why she had brought Madara Uchiha with them, here to her sanctuary. Zetsu had heard her words, like poison on his skin. He saw the gentleness in her eyes as she looked up at the superficial beauty of the sun, a small smile on her pale lips...for them, for her daughter and he...felt the poison seep into his skin, felt the sting of...hatred fill his heart.

He had been the one to bring her back. He had been the one to find her tools, hone them...make her will into her reality. He, Zetsu, loved her most and she...thought only of her...that woman and those two brats from the man who had been her son, one of the two that had...sealed her.

...had taken her from him.

He seethed silently at her feet, under the cover of the raised engawa, his hatred began to boil and fester. He hated them, all three of them. ‘Mother’, he whispered to his other half. ‘Mother’, his other half whispered back.

Madara pushed his way to the surface following the blasted woman’s chakra signature, grumbling under his breath. He saw the dim light of dusk ahead of him and quickened his pace. He must have been in the cave longer than he thought.

Red eyes glowed ominously in the dim, scanning for...there. He moved with decision toward the woman, his only link to the world they had come from, together, for he knew now...this was not any place he had ever been. He needed to speak to the woman. 

He needed to know if she realized like he had, that they had been brought somewhere, taken somewhere...where they were the only living things. Madara had noticed as he had walked through the caves, there were no insects. Now that he was outside of the volcanic fortress, there were no birds. Even the grass under his feet...wasn’t quite right. It was as though it was a fabrication or a genjutsu.

...but it wasn’t a genjutsu because if it was, he would have noticed. Whatever this was, this place...it was far more powerful than anything he had ever faced before.

Sakura pulled her storage scroll from her pouch and released her cookpot, firewood, water bottle and food pack. Setting a fire to burn she filled her cook pot with water, threw in the packet of dehydrated stew mix and set it to boil over the flames. 

Briefly, she wondered if Madara had made it out of the caves, then rolled her eyes at herself. Why was she wasting energy worrying about him...because it’s in your nature, she answered herself.

‘Why do you bother healing the enemy Sakura’, the scorn in Sasuke’s voice reverberated through her head.

‘She has a kind soul Sasuke. Empathy can be a weapon greater than the sharingan’, Itachi had scolded his brother.

Sakura snorted at the memory. After Itachi had returned to Konoha, Sasuke had reverted back to his old self for the most part.

She hoped they were okay, all of them. Sakura looked around the small cottage she had found, presumably abandoned and yet...there was no dust, no dirt or decay that one would typically find in an abandoned cottage.

In fact, she had spent over two hours scouting the cottage out before entering earlier, suspicious of the placement. It was as though someone had picked it up from where it had belonged and had...dropped it, in the middle of the woods.

It’s placement perplexed her. It wasn’t located by a river, it wasn’t built in a clearing, not even an overgrown clearing from years past, it was simply...there as though someone had imagined it...and it had appeared.

Even the interior of the cottage was strange, Sakura mused as she continued to observe her surroundings. The fire pit was too large, the wooden planks too thin and the bed...was far too deep and luxurious for a simple cottage. None of it fit together. Everything about it was...off.

Even the woods were strange. There were no birds, no chatter of small woodland creatures foraging or playing in the trees. There were no insects on the flowers, no bees in the fields. It was as though the entire land was...fake.

Sakura couldn’t shake this feeling in her gut that she was missing something, that there was something so blatantly clear staring her in the face and she just couldn't see it. It was irksome and a little scary. It made her uneasy and restless. She had felt it in the cave, after her and Madara Uchiha had parted ways.

Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that it was more bothersome than her dream like surroundings.

Sakura placed her hand over her heart. She could feel the steady wholesome beat, the reassurance that she was still alive and prayed to kami that everyone back home was...okay. She didn’t know where Zetsu was, or where Kaguya had gone but she would bet Tsunade’s sake collection, they were here with her and Madara, somewhere in this...wonderland.

Reaching out, she stirred her stew. This place was strange. The wind blew through the trees, but the leaves didn’t fall. The flowers bloomed in the field, but their pollen didn’t brush off onto her boots. It was just...wrong.

Sakura lifted her head and looked to the door of the small cottage. She could feel a tingling in her hand over her knuckles. That was another oddity. What was this strange connection her and Madara Uchiha seemed to have. It wasn’t until she had parted ways with him that she had taken full awareness of it. It wasn’t until she felt him getting closer and closer to her that she understood it better.

They were connected, somehow, through something...she just wasn’t sure what it was that connected them. Was it Zetsu? Was it the Rabbit goddess? Was it...this place?

Sakura shook the thought from her head. It was...distracting and she needed to focus. She could feel him, coming closer. At least...he couldn’t surprise her with an attack, she smiled into her cookpot.

Madara looked at the cottage from the trees. No light come from the cracks in the shutters but he could feel her inside, her...presence. She was there, alone. His legs bent, he rolled and jumped to his feet coming mere inches from the door.

It was sealed of course. He cocked his head to the side. An Uchiha seal? A genjutsu. Clever woman. The Hokage hum? A trick she had picked up from the taller Uchiha no doubt. He smirked. It was strong but still, nothing that would stop him or even slow him down.

“Don’t you knock?” Her cutting voice came to him from the well lit interior. He smirked. It was...almost good to see her. He frowned…

“Why should I, we’re the only ones here.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact and they both knew it.

“So…” She looked up at him, her emerald green eyes flashing in the light of her fire. “You feel it too.”

“Hard not to.” He sat down across from her, the fire snapped and popped between them.

“Please, have a seat, would you like some dinner?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice but he could see the flush on her cheeks. She was...happy to see him. His smirk was back.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home in someone else’s cottage.” He pulled a cup from the shelf on the wall making himself at home as well.

“This coming from the man who tried to take over the world? Don’t lecture me Uchiha.” Her voice held none of the heat from before.

Madara ignored her jibe to ladle stew into his cup. “Surely you know as well as I...this place isn’t real.”

Their eyes met over his cup briefly before she looked away. He noticed her aversion.

“Let’s call a truce, Hokage. For now.” He offered, sipping his stew.

“Sure, why not since I poisoned the pot.” Sakura took a deep breath in through her nose and exhaled out through the mouth. “I’m kidding. What’s the use of waging war with the only other living soul in existence…”

“Rather logical of you.” He ladled more stew into his cup under her watchful eye. “For a woman.” He hadn’t found her joke very funny. A woman with a strong antidote was bound to know how to make a strong poison.

Sakura choked on the bite of meat she had just taken into her mouth and glared at him.

“If that’s your idea of peace negotiations, no wonder war broke out constantly in your era.” She shot back.

“Do not speak of things you do not know.” His voice changed, the lift in his tone deepened dangerously. She had hit a nerve.

“War? Have you forgotten how we met?” She ignored the subtle warning.

“I will never forget.” He didn’t look at her, he didn’t see the widening of her eyes as he brought his hand to his chin and rubbed it absently. It was still there, the tingling.

Sakura’s eyes dropped down to her knuckles, it was still there...that feeling. Her eyes darted up to the Uchiha again. She gasped. His eyes were red, tomes spinning as he watched her watch him.

“What is it kunoichi, that binds us?” He asked her.

“I don’t know.” She admitted.

“Hn.” He continued to observe her with his mangekyo sharingan. “Something to look forward to then.”

“If you say so.” She averted her eyes, he smirked.


	5. Chapter 5

Madara ate his dinner, his eyes on the woman in front of him. She was ignoring him, that was fine, he didn’t feel like speaking anymore. She had noticed the strangeness of their surroundings like he had and was no doubt deep within the confines of her own contemplation.

He released the flow of chakra to his eyes, allowing his red to fade back to black. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. His eyes narrowed. She hadn’t looked up at him...so she had felt him release his sharingan...interesting, but it is what he would expect from someone who bore the weight of her title.

A female Hokage. He barely snorted. Green eyes flicked up to his black, then down again to her food. She was tired. He could see the strain in the corners of her eyes. His own eyes flickered to the large bed off to the right.

“Get some rest kunoichi.” He said softly, not wishing to disturb the peace of their silence. “You’re falling asleep where you sit.”

“I’ll not sleep in the presence of an enemy.” Sakura spoke with more enthusiasm than she felt.

“We have shared a meal.” He drained his cup, setting it down beside his leg. “We are no longer enemies in this place.” He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “Whatever place this may be.”

“If you wish, I will sleep first.” He offered.

“I’ll be fine.” She pushed herself back up against the wall. If he thought she would sleep with him mere feet away from her, he really was insane. “One meal does not make us friends.”

“I never said we were friends kunoichi, only that we are no longer enemies.” He corrected her, more or less politely.

A dry laugh flowed over his keen ears, like muted bells. His fingers twitched in his lap.

“A fine line.” Sakura rolled her eyes, weariness pulling at her limbs.

Madara waited. She would pass out soon, he could see her body shutting down. As a medic nin, surely she must know she was not much longer for the waking world, as the Hokage, surely she must have an understanding of situational peace.

“I wish to look around some more. Place your barrier, set your seals. I will return in a few hours.” Madara surprised her with his kindness.

The kunoichi remained silent, a small involuntary jerking of her head as she struggled to remain conscious in his presence. An admirable effort...wasted. He had no intentions of harming her and he didn’t need her to be asleep in order to kill her...surely she must know this. He walked out of the cottage irregardless, offering her succor.

As soon as Madara had left the cottage Sakura closed her eyes and yawned. She was under no false pretense to his actions, that were almost,chivalrous. If he had wanted her dead, she would be dead. 

There were any number of accomplishments attached to her name both before and after the fourth war had begun, but she knew...she was no match for Madara Uchiha.

Rising to her tired feet she swung the cookpot from it’s iron hook to the side. She didn’t know how long they would be here in this...place. She needed to conserve their food stores, her food stores. She grimaced and sighed. Their food stores she admitted, there was no use lying to herself. She wouldn’t let him starve.

Rising to her feet once more she pulled her shirt off over her head, then unbuckled her pants letting them fall to the floor. A quick wash with a little water and a washcloth before she slept...would help her sleep more soundly. She hadn’t slept in, days. She hadn’t bathed in...weeks.

Sakura clipped her hair up as best she could, grabbing her storage scroll releasing a washcloth and another bottle of water. She had barely put her things away before crawling into the soft bed, her chest wraps fresh and clean, her shorts slightly cleaner than the ones she had worn under her jounin pants earlier and her hair combed...she was asleep before she could remember to cast her protection jutsu over the cabin.

Madara sat in a tree outside the cabin and waited. He could feel her small movements and wondered why she hadn’t gone to bed immediately, surely she would wish to get as much sleep as possible before he returned, surely she could feel his signature in the tree outside the cabin…

Madara dropped down from the tree, his long hair falling back down over his bare back as he walked toward the cabin. There was something he wanted to try, something he...needed to know.

She was in the bed when he entered the small cabin, her small hands curled up over the covers that were pulled up to her little nose. If someone had told him before their battle that she was the Hokage, he would have laughed in their face. He had laughed in her face when she had told him..right before she leapt into the air, her fist hurtling down at him. 

He had blinked, he had underestimated her and she had made contact with him because of it.

...no, it had been more than that. He had felt a surge of emotional energy hit him like a wall right before she had connected her chakra infused fist to his jaw, otherwise, she never would have hit him at all. Otherwise, she would be dead right now like so many others he had killed that day.

It had been her eyes, her piercingly fierce green eyes. So few looked him in the eyes that when someone did it was...memorable, admirable and so few had eyes like hers. He almost wished she was awake, so he could see them again, watch them watch him when he touched her.

His jaw began to tingle again as he looked down at the sleeping woman. His eyes traced the curve of her cheek, the sloping bridge of her nose and the part of her lips. She was beautiful, but that wasn’t what drew him to her. A pretty face was not enough to interest him. He had many beautiful women in his bed before, many much more beautiful than this woman but...none as alluring as this woman.

It made him uneasy. It made him angry, but most of all it confused him and he didn’t like that feeling, at all.

Dropping down to the floor beside the bed he reached out and smoothed a lock of hair from her face that had fallen over her eyes.

“Foolish woman.” He scolded her sleeping form. “... are you that spent?”

Careful not to touch her skin, testing his theory, he pulled the covers up more securely beneath her chin and watched her eyes flutter under her lids. Was she dreaming? He wondered what someone like her would dream about...war, love...death?

Women of this time, the time she was from, were nothing like the women he had known when he had been...younger. Some clans, like the Senju, had kunoichi but most, like the Uchiha, did not. It was rare, but he had noticed during their battle that there were many kunoichi from every nation on the battlefield, not just from the Land of Fire, and he wondered...if the Uchiha had allowed their women to fight alongside them, would it have made a difference?

Was that what would win their last war...progression?

He shook his head. “Ridiculous.”

That wasn’t why the Senju had won, that wasn’t why Hashirama had bested him...it was because Izuna had died, it was because he, Madara had...allowed himself to be weak.

Madara looked down at the woman, a seemingly weak object and wondered at her. Why did she choose to fight? Who taught her to fight the way she did, he had never seen anything like her fighting style before...it was impressive and dangerous.

Dark eyes moved along the length of her small hands, studied the long fingers gripping the edges of the blanket, healing hands he mused. A healer and a killer. A leader and a woman.

He scoffed rising to his feet suddenly, his chakra spiking at his disdain.

Sakura moaned in her sleep, gripped the edges of the blanket closer and buried her face in their warmth, turning over onto her side, still facing Madara.

Looking down, he lowered himself once more. 

“A test.” He lifted his hand extending his finger, his eyes locked onto the closed eyes of the woman laying before him. Slowly he moved closer to her, leaning over her…

...he closed his eyes and ran his finger tip down the side of her cheek barely touching her soft skin.

A jolt of chakra arched from her skin to his in a single pulse shooting from the tips of his finger, up his arm to his heart. Madara jerked back, stumbled to his feet and looked down at the Hokage with wide obsidian eyes.

“What the hell was that?” He swallowed hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When there is only one other person in your world, of course you're going to grow closer and closer...

When Sakura woke, she was alone. Madara’s chakra signature no longer graced the tree outside of the cabin and she wondered where he was. Without thinking she sent out a small surge of chakra and felt an immediate response, a flicker and knew...he was close by.

It was...reassuring.

She frowned, so she had been right, they shared a connection of some sort...and he knew it too.

“Okay, now what.” She crawled out of the bed, making it back up behind her and rose to her feet.

The door to the small cabin opened and closed. Madara stood just inside the doorway, his eyes dark and nearly fathomless as he looked at her.

“You have been asleep for three days.” He told her without greeting.

Sakura blinked. Three...days…

“You are very reckless for a Hokage, you should take better care of yourself.” He turned before she could respond, closing the door once more behind him.

Sakura opened and closed her mouth, first in anger at his words, then in shock...three days, and whose fault is that Uchiha, she grit her teeth.

Four days passed in silence. Madara would come back to the cabin everynight after she had fallen asleep and leave every morning before she woke up. He was avoiding her, she knew, but she didn’t know why.

On the evening of the fourth day he appeared, before sunset, his eyes dark and tired looking.

“I found something I think you should see.” He told her, turning without waiting for her to sand, the fire, flickering away.

Sakura cursed under her breath, sanded the fire so that their dinner didn’t burn and followed his signature back to the volcanic caves they had taken shelter in on their first night. He stood before the exit she had found their first night, she walked up beside him and they entered the cave together.

“I’ve been searching for life of any kind.” He told her. “I’ve found none.” He didn’t elaborate, there was no need.

“I did however make a rather...unusual discovery.” He stopped at the end of the long corridor and motioned her to come closer, to move forward.

Sakura stepped into the glowing red and yellow light pouring over the edge of the ledge before her. It was the same ledge they had rested on, the same pit of molten lava and heat. She looked up at him curiously.

Their eyes locked onto one another's then...

Without warning, he pushed her over the edge into the boiling mass of heated death. 

Madara watched her fall over the edge, flail her arms and desperately try to grab ahold of something, anything but there was nothing to grab onto, he had made sure of that. He was impressed, she hadn’t even screamed.

She couldn’t feel a thing. 

There was no pain , no burning no...heat. 

Slowly, she opened one of her eyes and then the other looking around in shock. She looked down at her booted feet and...stomped. Nothing happened. The boiling lava continued to move under her feet, but her feet remained still as though...she were standing on glass.

“It isn’t real.” Madara’s deep voice cut through the distance that separated them.

“...but.” She pushed chakra to the soles of her feet, jumping back up on the ledge beside him easily. “What is it then, it isn’t a genjutsu.”

“Nothing here is real, I know you’ve noticed. Nothing but us.” He looked down at her watching her face.

“Nothing but us.” Sakura licked her bottom lip, looked down into the boil lava pit. “It, the heat though…”

Madara shrugged. “It’s in our head. Can you still feel it? Now that you know it isn’t real?” He asked her.

“Oh.” Sakura extended her hands over the pit and blinked again. “No.”

She understood. “What is this place?” 

“I think the real question is why are we here and for how long.” Madara crossed his arms over his chest, looking back down into the pit.

“You mean why did she bring us here and why hasn’t she shown herself to us?” Sakura asked the other two questions she knew must be on his mind because they were on hers as well. She looked back down into the pit.

“Indeed.” Madara too, looked down into the pit.

“How did you…” Sakura began to ask him how he had figured out the lava wasn’t real.

Madara picked a rock up from the ground and threw it into the pit, just like he had thrown Sakura a moment ago, and just like Sakura, it landed safely on the surface of the boiling pit...untouched..

“What else, what else have you found?” She asked him.

“Nothing.” He turned from her, heading back in the direction they had come. “Nothing at all, nothing alive, nothing real, nothing except for you and I.”

She followed him.

They sat across from one another at the fire that night, eating in silence.

“I have enough food for another month, with care, and water for maybe a month and a half.” Sakura spoke first after she had finished her buns.

Madara nodded.

Another week went by, then two…

“Sakura, eat.” Madara pushed the small dish of rice toward the woman gently. “I will be fine, you need it.” He tried to smile at her.

Over the last three weeks they had naturally gravitated toward one another, being the only two living, the only two real...things in this world.

“It doesn’t matter does it Madara?” Sakura looked down at the small dish of rice. “If we run out of food now or later, it will end the same won’t it?”

He had been very careful over the last few weeks not to touch her again, not skin to skin after that night he had touched her cheek, but as he looked at her...he thought she might be right. What did it matter, if it happened now or later, it would all end the same wouldn’t it?

“I’d not have you suffer more than you have already, for as long as I can, I will prolong the inevitable, for your sake.” He moved the small dish to the side and pulled her to him.

It was like an electric shock, her entire body jerked and flexed as her hands came up to his chest. Heat began to pool from their point of contact, spreading across his chest, from her palms to her arms, flushing her face.

“What…” She stuttered.

“I’m not sure…” His eyes watched hers flicker from left to right, anywhere but his face. “Do not be afraid Sakura, I do not think it is...bad.” His voice was deeper than usual, calm and…

“Madara, this is...our chakra is…” She finally looked up into his eyes.

“Connected. Yes.” He bent his head, his lips touching hers.

Light exploded behind his eyes, flashes of a world he had never seen filled his head, images of a woman that looked like Sakura clouded his mind. He broke their kiss, unable to hold her against him any longer, his soul...felt like it was on fire.

Sakura slumped to the side a bit, held up by Madara’s arm, her nails digging into his flesh.

“What did you see?” She asked him, fear in her eyes.

So, he looked into her near panicked eyes, she had seen visions as well?

“You, only you were different, older and your hair…” He lifted his hand tugging gently on a short lock of shiny pink. “...was much much longer.”

Sakura nodded her understanding.

“What did you see?” He asked her, holding his breath.

“You, but you wore robes of white, your hair…” She reached up to take a thick black lock of his hair in her hand like he had hers. “...was a dark brown, instead of inky black but your eyes...were red and glowing, like they are now and we…” She swallowed hard, then blushed.

“We?” He hadn’t told her everything, he knew why she hesitated, he marveled at the tinted of her cheeks, the moisture in her eyes that made them sparkle like emeralds.

“Were...enamoured.” She whispered, dropping his hair from her grasp, her eyes cast downward, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.

“Enamoured.” He swallowed the word before he could choke on it. “I see.”

Sakura looked up to find him watching her with a look in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. She watched in horror and in awe as he bent his head to hers again and pressed his lips to hers.

“Yes.” He murmured against her mouth. “I am enamoured with you Sakura.”


	7. Hayamo Hyuga

Kaguya felt the pulse tear through her world , much like a mountain crumbling to the ground after an earthquake. The energy surrounding her broke apart and began to evaporate like moisture on a hot rock.

She smiled. Their connection was complete.

“It is time.” Kaguya rose from her cushion on the floor and walked to the garden’s edge. Her garden. Her world. “My last gift to you, my daughter.” 

Kaguya lifted her hands to the full moon over her head as the tears streamed down her face. It was a simple gift of self sacrifice. It was what she had come to Earth to do, nearly 900 years ago, the irony was not lost on her, but this time...it was her choice, this time she didn’t mind passing her will onto the next generation.

Wasn’t this what all parents wanted for their children, to have everything they had been denied?

“Watch over her Zetsu, make sure history does not repeat itself. My only wish is for her happiness, a happiness I finally understand, a happiness I am finally able to give her.” Kaguya smiled down at Zetsu, her eternal will...her survival. “Guide Sakura, soon...she will have more power than she will know what to do with. I need you to help her control it, hone it. I’ve put my trust in you.”

“Mother no!” Zetsu’s anguished cry rose from the bowels of the Earth as Kaguya fell to her knees, her eyes closing, her beautiful long hair falling down around her. “No, the girl doesn’t deserve this, for you to sacrifice yourself for her, after everything I’ve done, after everything I did to bring you back!’ 

...but it was too late. Kaguya...was dead.

THUMP THUMP

A searing heat struck Sakura in the chest.

Thump Thump

Her body jerked in Madara’s arms and her eyes began to glow a pale erie purple.

THUMP THUMP

“Sakura!” Madara gripped the woman’s shoulders as light pierced the sky above them.

Thump Thump

“Ma da ra…” Sakura’s voice was clipped and broken.  
…

“My chest.” She grasped the fabric of her shirt over her chest.  
…

“It burns me.” Sakura’s eyes fluttered and her pulse jumped in her neck.

Madara’s eyes glowed red, his tomes spun...there was a thread coming from Sakura’s fist where she clutched at her chest, a red line of sinew that hadn’t been there before. Looking down following the path he saw that they were...connected by this flesh, this…

“What is this?” His eyes narrowed, his finger tracing the soft spongy tissue. Looking back up at the woman, he gasped.

Sakura’s short hair began to rise around her head, the diamond on her forehead began to glow. There was no wind, there was no light but for the glowing of her eyes and his, there was only energy, consumption and...that’s when he felt it, in his heart, a weighted pain of...

“Love.” Madara grabbed Sakura and pressed her to his chest, wrapping his large arms around her tiny frame as they were engulfed in light, a blinding painful light that fell over them like a crashing wave from above. 

Their world dropped into nothing around them and they began to fall into darkness.

Madara’s eyes snapped open his arms wrapped around his chest grabbing onto his own elbows as his back slammed hard into the ground. 

“Ughn!” The wind was knocked from his lungs. His arms were empty.

“Sakura?” He clenched his jaw and jumped to his feet, looking left then right. “Where the hell did she go?” His eyes spun red and searched the trees that surrounded him, but she wasn’t there, he couldn’t...even feel her chakra signature.

She was either too far away or...she hadn’t been transported to...Madara took in his surroundings… “Konoha?”

...where was Sakura though? This didn’t feel right. Something was wrong. He could feel the breeze on his flushed skin, hear the insects of the forest...he could even feel the energy of the Earth again...surrounding him.

Clearly he wasn’t in that other world, that world of...nothing but this, wasn’t the Konoha he had left, the one he had waged war on this was...was…

“Madara?” A shocked voice startled him from behind. Madara spun on his heel, his eyes widening in shock and...suspicion. He knew that voice. It was...

“Hashirama?” Madara watched as his ‘Old friend’, jumped down from the nearest tree to stand before him, his eyes wary but...pleased.

“How did you get here?” Madara asked the man before him, before Hashirama could speak. The last time he had seen Hashirama had been on the battlefield right before, before that blasted Rabbit goddess and her lackey had taken him and Sakura to, to…

“Is it over? Is the war over?” He asked Hashirama quickly, looking back and forth again, behind Hashirama and to the side.

“The war?” Hashirama narrowed his eyes at his friend, was this a trick? “The war is still...being waged unless...did you reply to my last missive?” Excitement filled Hashirama’s voice as he took in his old friend’s appearance. He had no weapons, wore no armour…was this, had he come to...talk of peace?

No, he didn’t think that was it. Something was wrong, something was off. Madara was different. He hadn't called him any names, or yelled at him or even tried to attack him yet...

“Madara, are you...well?” 

Hashirama’s tone brought Madara back from his frantic thoughts. He withdrew the chakra from his eyes and wrapped it in and around himself. He had to find Sakura but...asking Hashirama outright was a risk. If he was the Hashirama he thought he was… “I am...have you, seen a pink haired woman? A kunoichi?”

Hashirama’s mouth dropped open. Finding Madara Uchiha in the woods, alone was not surprising in the least. Finding him alone, nearly unclothed, no armour, no weapons of any kind other than his sharingan, and asking about a woman...a kunoichi was...unexpected to say the least.

“No.” Hashirama replied slowly. “Are you hunting her?”

Madara looked at his friend. Hashirama was being cautious, not unfriendly but not…

“Hashirama.” Madara straightened his back and crossed his arms over his chest. He deepened his voice and activated his mangekyo once more. “Tell me Hashirama, have we built our village yet? Our dream when we were children has it...come to pass?”

Hashirama’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Madara Uchiha, the man he had been at war with since childhood, their clans were sworn enemies, by their hand and his own clans they had spilled more of each other’s blood since, since before the time of their fathers...and stammered.

“Our dream?” Hashirama’s eyes wavered. “You mean, you remember?”

Madara nodded, he was beginning to understand only…if he was back, here...then Sakura. Oh kami Sakura, he had to find her immediately. “The woman, the kunoichi, I need to find her Hashirama. I must go. We will speak again soon.”

Madara made to step past his friend who had yet to recover from his words when Hashirama stopped him with his hand.

“You mean, our war?” Hashirama looked to Madara.

“Is over.” Madara nodded. “I must go.” Madara jumped to the nearest tree, spread his chakra out around himself, searching...and ran, leaving Hashirama in the forest floor to stare after him.

Hashirama looked down at his hand, the hand that had reached out to his friend, the hand that hadn’t been thrown back at him, cut off or set on fire and smiled.

“Kami, I have no idea what this means but...I’ll take it.” Hashirama lifted his face to the thin streams of sunlight that were able to break through the forest canopy and smiled. “I’ll take it!”

“Do you think she is a spy?” A low voice spoke from somewhere close by.

“Her clothes are so strange and...revealing.” Another spoke from farther away.

“I was washing clothes by the river and she just appeared out of nowhere like, like one of those jutsu from the legends.” A woman said.

“Her eyes were lavender when I found them, like ours but…”

“Enough, please clear the room, she’s waking.” A stern voice stopped the chatter in the room. “Leave us.” A command.

Sakura remained still, her eyes closed, her breathing controlled and waited. She was laying down, presumably on a futon.

There was a rustle of clothing as someone sat down beside her head. Their chakra flared in greeting or in warning she wasn’t sure.

“I know you’re awake, do not insult me by pretending you’re asleep.” A deep voice commanded.

Sakura opened her eyes and turned her head to the stern face of a middle aged Hyuga male.

“I am Hayamo Hyuga, the clan head of the Hyuga Clan. You were found on our lands and brought here to the main house. I see that what my guards told me is true, you have our eyes.” Cold lavender eyes looked down at Sakura who looked back up at him in confusion.

...my eyes are nothing like your eyes, she didn’t understand.

“...but do you have...the Byakugan?” The man pushed his chakra to his corneal coils bringing forth his clan’s kekkei genkai.

Did she have the...why the hell would he ask her that!

Before Sakura could ask the man why he thought she would have such a thing two men broke into the room.

“Lord Hyuga, sir! Madara Uchiha is at the front gate demanding to see, to see the woman!” One of the men stumbled into the room, bowing low to the floor while shaking visibly.

Sakura drew in a hasty breath, her eyes darting to the door and beyond where she could feel, yes, that was Madara alright.

“The woman?” The Hyuga looked from the bowing man to the woman laying on the futon in front of him. She wasn’t an Uchiha, what business did Madara Uchiha have with this woman…

“Woman.” The Hyuga spoke in careful measured tones. “What business do you have with Lord Madara Uchiha?” His tone suspicious.

Aside from going from enemies of war to being abducted by the Rabbit goddess together...nothing really, she said to herself while wondering what the best way to answer the Hyuga was.

“We are acquainted.” Sakura’s voice was scratchy and sore. She cleared her throat, pushing herself up into a sitting position. “He is currently not my enemy.” She clarified.

“Currently.” The Hyuga looked at the woman’s lavender eyes. “Why was he and what led to him not being one...currently?” He demanded.

“If I may…” Sakura paused recalling her diplomatic voice. “My name is…”

The door burst open, the two men that had come into the room earlier rushed forward but were easily knocked back and to the side by one Madara Uchiha, furious that he had been made to wait when he knew damn well Sakura was inside the Hyuuga compound.

“Sakura.” Madara bowed from the waist showing the woman great respect. “I found you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me...~


	8. Chapter 8

The Hyuga looked from Sakura to Madara coming to his own conclusions. Rising to his feet, he fixed Madara with a confident and irritated glare. “It was not necessary for you to barge into our compound Uchiha San. I was about to greet you at our gate myself. I only wished to ask the …”

The Hyuga looked over his shoulder, while still keeping the Uchiha within his peripheral…”The Lady, what her association with you was and if she...wished to see you.”

Lavender eyes studied Sakura closely. “I see that she does.”

Sakura rose, the covers of the futon around her chest, and bowed most graciously to the Hyuga. “Thank you for escorting me to your compound and offering me shelter, but yes, Madara Uchiha and I are acquainted and on...civil terms.”

“I see.” Cold lavender eyes continued to observe the strange woman who spoke to him like an equal.

“Perhaps I might call for tea and…” He looked at Madara’s state of...undress. “...a shirt.” The Hyuga clapped his hands twice with determination, retreating footsteps could be heard scampering down the hall to do his bidding.

Sakura smiled diplomatically inclining her head, froze in her movements as long silky strands of pink slid over her shoulders to hang beside her face. Her hair was...long. Very long. When had, her mind raced as she stood frozen before the two men who continued to watch her with steady eyes.

“My…” Sakura looked up to Madara, their eyes meeting past the Hyuga’s head. The look in his eyes...she looked down at her blanket covered body, one hand rising to push back the long locks of her hair...what else, she wondered, what else about her had...changed?

My eyes, the words of the Hyuga came back to her. My eyes! She gasped, hugging the blanket more firmly around her chest. 

Thump Thump

Her chakra pulsed with the sudden pounding of her heart

THUMP THUMP

The Hyuga took a step toward her but Madara was faster. 

Sakura closed her eyes and fell into his arms.

Thump Thump.

“Madara, what has…” Sakura looked up into Madara’s red eyes pleading with him wordlessly. “I…”

The Hyuga’s cold eyes narrowed at the familiar way the woman addressed the Uchiha clan head.

Madara lifted Sakura up into his arms, turned toward the Hyuga and bowed shallowly. “We must go. Thank you for your generosity.”

A different guard from the two before entered the room, a shirt over one arm and a tea tray in his hands.

“Thank you Hyuga San, for your kindness.” Sakura pulled the shirt from the guards arm as Madara passed through the door. “I’ll not forget this.” She called over Madara’s shoulder as they left the main house, walked down the main road of the Hyuuga compound and leapt over the main gate without resistance.

“Shall we...stop them Hyuga Sama?” The guard blinked as he looked down the now empty hallway.

Hayamo Hyuga looked back down at the now empty bed. The woman had taken his blanket with her as well as the shirt. The corner of his mouth twitched. “If you want to go after Madara Uchiha and a woman he gave open respect to...be my guest.”

The guard’s face drained of color as he shook his head. Any woman to have gained the Uchiha’s respect must be rather formidable.

“What an unusual woman.” Hayamo mused as he took a cup of tea from the tray the guard was still holding.

Sakura gripped the blanket to her chest, not because she was cold but because she wasn’t sure what else to do. Madara raced through the trees heading north and west. Sakura realized he was heading for…

“Why are we heading for the Land of Wind?” She asked him, one hand on the blanket, the other hand on the shirt she had taken as they had left the Hyuga compound.

“There is something there I will need. To prove who I am.” He answered her cryptically.

“To prove who you are?” She ducked her head and closed her eyes as he dropped down through the trees, his feet touching sand.

“Have you not noticed?” He set her down, taking the shirt from her hand. “Hokage?”

Sakura took in their surroundings, felt the sand moving under her feet, heard the birds in the trees behind them and squared her shoulders. “I didn’t have time, but yes, now that you mention it, I notice. We aren’t...where we were anymore. This is…” She bent down picking a small blade of grass from the ground and tore it in half. 

“Real.” She smiled up at him, her lavender eyes sparkling. It was real, as real as they were. Relief flooded her senses. She thought that she had been losin it, that her mind was starting to break in that...other place.

“Yes.” Madara watched her eyes as he tied his shirt on, his hand dropping to his side. He too was...relieved but it could wait, there were more pressing concerns to address.

Sakura twirled the two halves of the blade of grass between her fingers and took a deep breath. Madara continued to watch her with an odd expression on his face, turned blank when she met his eyes.

“Kunoichi, why have your eyes...changed color?” He asked her sternly.

“Back to that are we?” She was a little more than hurt by his name calling, she thought they had...gone beyond that, that they had become...more.

“Answer me.” He took an aggressive step toward her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha. She was the Hokage of Konoha. She would answer him when she was ready or not at all. “Is this how you treat all of your women?” She growled at him surprising him.

“My women?” He stepped back from her.

“I meant…” Sakura cursed herself, she hadn’t meant to insinuate that…

“I do not have women. I have bed companions, nothing more.” He said stiffly.

“Bed companions?” Sakura knew that things were a bit different in his time but he had lived to an old age in her time and…”So...concubines?”

“No. Nothing that...consistent.” Why the hell was he telling her this...his eyes darted past her head. “We should go, it will take some time to get to our destination, and I wish to get there before dark.”

“Where are we going?” Sakura asked him, fully aware he had deliberately changed the subject on her. She wasn’t going anywhere without an explanation. “Why are we going?”

Dark eyes held hers for a movement then dropped to the ground. It was such a defeated look she wasn’t sure what to do, how to interpret it. He spoke haltingly, lacking his usual pomp.

“I met Hashirama, when I was searching for you after we were separated.” He told her. “It seems we are...no longer in your time.”

“Our time.” He amended.

“Konoha?” Sakura’s nimble mind caught on quickly, his words confirming every possible explanation for the transpiring events.

“Has not been founded yet.” He said stiffly.

“Not been founded yet.” Sakura repeated his words to herself, but out loud so he could hear her. “ Then that means…” Her eyes went wide as her head snapped back up to look at Madara.

“Yes, the Senju and the Uchiha are still at war, or...at least they would be but...I...Hashirama and I have just ended it. Briefly.” He gave her the barest of facts from his encounter with Hashirama in the forest.

“The Hyuga though, he didn’t...I mean, weren’t you, your clan, enemies during this, now?” Sakura waved her hand through the air encompassing the world around them. “Why was he so...civil to you?”

“History is not always what it seems. Yes, we are at war and no, we, the Uchiha are not allied with the Hyuga Clan but…” He paused choosing his wording with care. “We were not quite as hostile in our arrangement as your history books have led you to believe...Hokage.” He smirked at her offended expression.

“You’ve read the past Hokage’s journals, haven't you dear Sakura? You know how deep the corruption festers.” His voice bitter, and in that moment she saw again a little bit of the hatred she had seen the first time they had met, on the battlefield...his battlefield.

Her thoughts immediately acknowledge the brutal disgust in her heart when she had read the Lord Third’s account of the Uchiha massacre and Itachi’s forced role in the destruction of his clan. Yes, she knew but…

“Why though, surely the basis of deceit is to protect. What could be protected by changing the history of compliance between two such powerful clans?” She asked as she followed him into the desert.

“As you said protection, but not of lives, not of blood but pride. The Hyuga are a prideful Clan as well as a powerful one. Let it be known that the two most powerful visual jutsu and kekkei genkai users in history are allied, and the world would erupt in war and fear. There would be no peace.” He said casually as she quickened her pace to step up beside him.

“Peace was made though, eventually. When Konoha was established.” She protested.

“Yes.” He agreed. “It was the proper time, but negotiations were...not easy.”

“Negotiations.” Ah, she understood. So, it was a political move. She understood that, as inexperienced in being a kage as she was she had mentored under Tsunade and understood the significance of such an...agreement. “I see.”

Madara grunted. “Sakura.”

She knew what he was going to say. She had been avoiding it, just as he had.

“I don’t know why my eyes changed. The Hyuga asked me about my eyes as well.” She admitted. “He asked if I had the Byakugan.”

“Do you?” Madara stopped walking but didn’t look at her. His eyes remained in front of him, ahead of him while he waited for her answer.

“I didn’t even know my eyes had changed color.” She told him truthfully. “I woke shortly before your arrival at the hyuga’s compound.”

“Hn.” Madara grunted. “That’s not all that has changed about you though.” His voice dropped as he turned to her, his eyes searching hers.

“I can not feel you, your chakra and you stand...right next to me. I can see you, physically, but…” His eyes bled red. “I see no signature, feel no energy or intent from your person. It’s as if you...don’t exist.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. 

Madara reached out for her, his fingers twinning in her hair, her long hair. “Your hair is long, your eyes are no longer green but Hyuga purple and your chakra signature is undetectable.” He told her in an emotionless drawl as though checking them off of a mental list inside his head.

“Yet…” He cupped her cheek in his large palm and looked into her eyes. “I can feel your warmth, your life pulsating with every beat of your heart.” Hi moved his other hand to his chest, over his own beating heart. “I feel it, right here.”

Madara looked down between their bodies and in the short space between he saw it again with his sharingan eyes, the thin red thread of flesh that connected them, dripping with blood. He looked up into her eyes once again to find them wavering, shimmering in the fading light.

Why, he wondered, does it always seem to be nightfall when he feels the closest to her, why dusk, why moonrise?

Sakura took a step forward, closing the small space of divide and lifted her hand to cover his where he cupped her cheek. 

“I feel it too.” She brought her other hand to cover her heart like he had done to his and closed her eyes.

She felt the heat of his body through the shirt the Hyuga had given them and exhaled. She could hear the night chirping of the insects in the woods around them, the gentle shifting of the sands behind them and inhaled.

Madara bent his head, and brushed his lips over Sakura’s. He felt her exhale against his mouth and pressed his lips against hers with more force, more need and want. Her small hands rose and fell over his shoulders, around his neck as she pressed her body into his. His fingers pulled and grasped her long hair and pulled her head back to deepen their kiss.

Sakura’s eyes fluttered open then closed, the light of the full moon falling over their embrace. There was no blinding light, no visions of the past or future...there was no pull or tugging at their connection, but a searing burning pain in his chest.

He broke their kiss, suddenly and harshly. His breath came quick, his eyes still glowed. Sakura moved into him again, not wanting to break their connection, not wanting to lose the heat of his skin in the fading light.

“We must go, the hour wans, we do not have time for...this now.” His voice was thick, forced. She understood. He hadn’t wanted to stop but he was right, they must. Now was not the time for...this.

Sakura nodded.

Madara looked down at the woman and grabbed her hand. “Sakura your eyes...they’re turning back.”

Sakura blinked away the lavender, her green eyes shining in the soft moonlight once more. Madara smiled at her, a warm genuine smile that warmed Sakura’s heart.

Thump Thump

“I much prefer the green my dear.” He assured her racing off into the desert.

“I find...red, to be a most alluring color myself.” She smiled into her hand as she pushed chakra to her feet and followed him.

A figure rose from the sand and sun parched grass. One eye black, the other yellow.

“Follow them.” A dark gravely voice broke through the peaceful night. “I will check on things back...home.” Black Zetsu broke apart from his other half, sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

“As you wish, but I still don’t see what this will accomplish.” White Zetsu’s other leg began to form to replace the legg his other half had taken from him in their separation.

“You don’t need to see the end, as long as we work together, we will keep our promise to mother.” Black eyes watched the cloud of sand stream across the desert marking the path of the Hokage and the Uchiha.

“For mother.” White Zetsu nodded solemnly. “I’ll see you soon then?” He looked over his shoulder waiting for a response.

“When I’m done, I’ll come find you.” Black Zetsu sank into the ground. White Zetsu nodded.

Black Zetsu wove his way through the bowels of the Earth, swimming through rock, sand and granite just below the crust. That woman. That woman was to blame and yet his will and loyalty to his mother prevented him from...hurting her, from completely hating her and yet...he ground his fangs together, he did hate her. He did want to hurt her…

Damn that woman, damn that Uchiha bastard and all of his descendants! He cursed them. He cursed them all. If it hadn’t been for that woman though, if she hadn’t been there when he had resurrected his mother...then maybe his mother wouldn’t have died. 

If that woman wasn’t around then maybe...Black Zetsu stopped moving, his mind exploding with possabilities.

That woman.

Both he and White Zetsu had seen her eyes, her lavender eyes until...the Uchiha. Until she had kissed the Uchiha…

“Mother.” He realized… “What have you done?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adult content

Sakura watched as Madara slowed his pace. She stood beside him as he pulled a kunai from his belt and cut his hand. Blood fell from his palm to the rocks on the ground before them. She was puzzled. They were out in the middle of nowhere, no landmark but for the small insignificant pile of rocks.

The blood seeped into the stone and disappeared. Sakura watched as a red glow began to appear where the blood had been absorbed in the shape of…

“The Eternal Mangekyo.” She looked up at Madara in silent inquiry.

“My Mangekyo.” He corrected her. “It’s how I knew, back then, what I could become.” He added quietly.

Sakura looked back down at the rocks. Yes, his Mangekyo, the pattern was clear. What he could become? 

So much of Madara Uchiha was a mystery. Part of it was because before the founding of hidden villages clans kept to themselves, but the other part of it was because he had left the village he had helped create to...Hashirama Senju and his brother Tobirama.

A lot was known about them as a result. Almost nothing was known of Madara’s younger brother Izuna, who had died before the village was even built.

“What is this place Madara?” She asked him.

“Safe.” Was all he said as the sand beneath them started to shift and fall, the ground opening up to reveal a hidden stairway. “Come.” He held his hand out to her.

Sakura nodded, taking his hand and followed him down into the depths of the Earth.

“Many years ago, when I was a small boy I was traveling across the desert with my father and got lost in a sand storm.” His deep voice flowed back and over his shoulder as they made their way further and further down into the narrow, never ending dark. “Seperated from my clan, alone and without an awakened sharingan I fell into a pit, falling much deeper into the Earth than I had ever dreamt was possible.”

“The fall had knocked me out but when I woke.” Madara lit the palm of his free hand, holding the flame up in front of him. Sakura gasped. “I found myself here, in this underground oasis. A paradise lost.”

Madara let go of Sakura’s hand and walked to the side of the corridor they were in, down the two remaining steps and lit an ancient torch. Moving to the opposite side, he lit another torch, their combined glow casting brilliant shadows on the drop before them.

It was like a passageway to another world, within a world. 

Sakura stepped forward, her eyes wide and searching trying to take it all in at once. It was vast, it was dark but it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. 

She stood in the halo of the firelight and looked out over the drop where the earth fell away mere inches from her toes into a seemingly endless abyss. Tall trees with wide leaves as wide as their trunks shot up from the invisible ground. Splashes of muted color caught her eye as massively huge flowers swayed in the gentle breeze.

Breeze.

“Madara, how is this...the air, it flows.” Sakura looked up into the red glowing eyes of the Uchiha beside her and swallowed. His gaze was intense, his closeness scorching. 

“We are in a place that bears no name, because I could never think of a name that suited it. I simply call it my safe paradise. You’re the only person who knows of this place, aside from me. Not even my brother Izuna or Hashirama knows of its existence.” He reached out for her hand. “We’ll be safe here. We need to rest and...talk.”

He lifted her in his arms without permission and stepped over the side of the cliff. Sakura gasped, her arms flung around his neck as he had intended. He smirked, kicking off a large tree, then settling on one of it’s larger branches as wide and as sturdy as the cliffside they had just jumped from.

“A warning would have been nice.” Sakura growled at him as he set her down.

“Hn. What’s the fun in that love?” He grinned down at her amused by her temper. In a more serious tone… “There is no food here, that is the only drawback, but there is a beautiful spring that feeds the oasis, suitable and warm enough for...bathing.”

“Show me.” Sakura could barely hide her pleasure at his words. The world they had been taken from, hadn’t had any real water, she was in dire need of a bath. Her blood nearly danced inside her veins in her excitement.

“As you wish my dear.” He leapt from the tree laughing, his feet barely touching the surface as he ran, one after another, tree after tree until…

“Oh kami…” Sakura brought her hands to her mouth. “Madara, it’s so, so beautiful.”

“Yes.” His voice was soft. “Beautiful.”

Sakura looked up to find him looking down at her and blushed.

“It will be a whole new world we enter Sakura, when we leave this place.” He began. She understood. “While we’re here though, we can take the time to think, strategize and come up with a plan for when we emerge. I have a few...theories I would like to share with you.”

That surprised her. He cared about her opinion?

“...as well as a few concerns.” He added.

“Such as?” She thought she knew though.

“I am not the same man now, that I was when we first met, nor was I the same man, that I was when I lost the war to Hashirama, the war that cost me Izuna’s life.” He squeezed her hand tightly in his. “Izuna, my brother who is...still alive in this...world, this timeline.”

“Ah.” A short strangled breath escaped her. “I thought, while we ran here, that might be the case.”

The blood froze in her veins as his words came back to her from before. “You said you met Hashirama, you said that Konoha hadn’t been built, that your brother is still alive and...so then, so then…”

Madara nodded. “Yes, I think...there might be two of me, here. You have not been born yet so your existence is not an issue but for me, being who I am...it is a bit of a problem I think.” He grimaced.

“Yes, a bit of a problem, I can see why two Madara Uchihas would be a bit of a problem.” She growled at him.

“I don’t understand why you expel your frustration at me kunoichi.” He crossed his arms over his chest dropping her hand from his. “It’s not like I’m the one who brought us here.” 

Sakura didn’t care for his rude accusatory tone. 

“You think I did asshole? You think I said, hey what is the best way to end this war that this maniac started, I know!” Sarcasm dripped from her mouth. “I’ll take us to some fake weirdo wonderland where we might starve, make out with the guy that threw the entire world into chaos and killed half the shinobi population, then drag us back in time where there’s not one but two of him!” She waved her hands in the air.

“How did you ever become Hokage with that temper of yours woman.” He was teasing her. He was smirking.

She wanted to punch him in the throat, but in light of his comment, refrained.

“Clearly you never met my predecessor, the Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju.” She muttered under her breath.

“I did not have the pleasure no, but I was told quite a bit about her from Obito.” Madara began to untie his shirt. “I hear she drank like a man and gambled like one as well, but did not inherit Hashirama’s luck.”

“That’s her. She was also the best medic in the world and taught me everything she knew, including how to fight on the front lines as a medic.” Sakura tapped her Yin seal on her forehead. With pride.

“What are you doing?” She watched him shuck his shirt to the ground, his fingers moving to untie his pants.

“Getting ready to bathe.” He gave her an odd look as though she was the strange one. “Get undressed.” He told her bluntly.

“I’m not...bathing with you!” Sakura’s face was red and her words sharply cut.

“Why not?” He smirked. “If I hadn’t stopped you earlier we would have done much more than bathe together.” He winked at her. She sputtered.

“That’s not. You don’t…” She stammered.

Madara stood before he naked.

“Sakura.” His voice was gentle. “Once we leave here, we must conduct ourselves as we were born to. You are the Hokage, I am the Uchiha clan head. We have set aside our past differences but here, in this time...they are still very much alive.”

She understood what he was saying. If there was another Madara here, like he had said before, he was not the same Madara before her now, nor the desperate one that had waged war on the five great nations in her time. The Madara here was whole, was strong and was at war with the Senju. 

“What will you do?” She ignored his wandering hands that had begun to untie the ties of her shirt.

“I will go and speak to...myself.” He told her reluctantly. “...and try to convince myself of my future folly.”

“...and if he, you don’t listen?” She asked him, allowing him to push her shirt off her shoulders and to the ground.

“I don’t know.” He kissed the curve of her neck, his hands dropping to the zipper of her pants. “...but I’ll think of something.”

“Hmm.” She closed her eyes, enjoying the light touch of his hands as he ran them up the sides of her naked body.

“Right now however, I would much rather think of all the things I want to do to you and all the noises I want you to make while I do them.” His lips moved hotly against her neck.

“After.” She opened her eyes and looked at the sparkling water beside them. “I would be clean first.”

Madara grins his tomes spinning. “What’s wrong Hokage, can’t do more than two things at once?”

His hands dropped to the curve of her hip. Slowly he kissed her, pushing her back into the water step by step. Sakura could feel the water rising up around her ankles and moaned into his mouth. It was warm just as he had promised, it felt delightful against her thirsty skin.

“Madara.” Her voice was light, playful, teasing. “You’re not what I had expected. Not the man we were told you were.”

“It is as I said, history is not always what you think it is and I took great pains to keep who I really was a secret.” Warm water rolled over his shoulders as he sat down on the soft sandy bottom pulling Sakura into his lap.

“You wanted that image, that cold, withdrawn manic image?” She was surprised.

“Fear is a great motivator my love.” His hand brushed back the wet heavy mass of pink hair, his tongue gliding over her smooth heated skin, his teeth nipping at her collar bone.

“Fear and blood.” Sakura murmured. “You’re so much more.” She mused.

“What am I?” He bit down just under her ear moving her leg to the left of his so that she was straddling his lap, her head back allowing him to kiss his way down her chest.

“You’re considerate and kind.” She gasped as he took one of her nipples into his mouth sucking hard, swirling his tongue over the nub, then biting down gently making her shiver and slide over his hardness. He moaned into her breasts.

“Gentle and..” He lifted her up, then slid her back down over his cock. “Umph.” Her words failed her as she sunk down over his sex completely, her head falling back as he began to move inside of her.

“So beautiful.” He pulled on her hair a little bringing her head up so he could kiss her as he moved her over top of himself. “So strong.” His fingers fell from her hair to squeeze her hips as he moved against her, with her.

“When you meet my other self, if you meet him Sakura don’t…” He bit his tongue as she lifted herself up then sat back down over his sex, canting her hips forward, twisting his cock deeper into her heat. “Trust him.” He groaned out loud as she slipped her tongue between his lips and slid it wetly over his.

“Damn woman.” He picked her up out of the water, holding her bottom with both hands, his cock twitching inside of her. “I see you require a strong hand to control you. I assure you, I am quite capable of giving you everything you need.”

Sakura smiled a slow half smile, looking into his eyes, her own sparkled with the timeless challenge between men and women. “Prove it.”

Madara growled, walked to where they had left their clothes on the bank and laid her down with a bit more force than was necessary. “On your knees woman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter for the night :) Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

Dark eyes stared at the canopy overhead as small contented breaths fell over his bare chest. Sakura was curled up into the side of his body, one leg sprawled over his, her arm flung over his chest, her little hand with her little fingers curled up against her palm, as he held her in his arms.

He was content, pleased with their joining, it had been perfect...she was perfect. He had slept with many women, many more than he ever hoped Sakura would find out about, but he had never wanted them to stay after he had released his pleasure in them. He had never wanted to hold them afterward.

A pin prick of heat bloomed in his chest, flooding through his veins like chakra through his coils. It had been like that from the first, from the moment he had seen her charging at him across the battlefield. The heat, the pressure had only increased when he had darted up into the air to meet her blow head on, only to pause when their eyes had met, giving her the opening she had needed to hit him.

His hand rose to rub his face where she had struck him that day. The same tingling warmth passed from his cheek to his palm, spreading throughout his body. He sighed. What did it mean…

The vision of her when they had kissed. The tearing in his soul when he had woken after the fall, missing the weight of her body against his, the fear...when he had thought he had lost her.

The fear that he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time, not since losing Izuna had he felt so...weak. Izuna, he wouldn’t lose him this time, he would keep them both, Izuna and Sakura safe. She was reckless, far too reckless for a Hokage...he paused, was he any different? Was Hashirama?

Madara stroked Sakura’s naked body. He hadn’t been over exaggerating when he told her to be careful if she ever ran into his other self here. He had had many women, but not all of them had come to his bed willingly. Long, strong fingers sifted gently through her hair, her long silky hair. He would need to handle this carefully and he knew he would only have one opportunity to convince himself, one opportunity of surprise.

Right now, only he and Sakura knew that he existed, that there were two Madara Uchiha in this time. Once that element of surprise was lost, his other self would begin plotting, for dominance...and once his other self caught sight of Sakura. He, Madara, would be fighting to keep her.

Sakura was a very beautiful woman. A very strong, powerful, sexy woman who he knew he couldn’t resist anymore than his old, or younger self...would be able to resist. He only hoped she was as observant and as cunning as he thought she was, as she had shown him she was thus far.

As well as he knew himself, he also knew how much he had changed. He had to get back into his old mind set, to reconnect with himself.

“Damn.” He ran a hand down his face. This might prove more difficult than he anticipated. Afterall, he knew better than anyone, he wasn't the easiest person to get along with.

Hashirama sat on the wide porch of his father’s home, now his and Tobirama’s after his death, and sipped his tea deep in contemplation over what he had seen and heard in the forest. 

Madara, his old friend…

The man had looked less composed than he had seen him in years as though he had been...misplaced or...lost. That was ridiculous though, they were in the forest of both of their childhoods, the forest that grew along the Naka River where they had first met, where they had first become, friends.

One by one Hashirama categorized Madara’s characteristics in his head and methodically checked them off with a tick. It was something he rarely did but something was off about the enemy, about his friend and he knew, in his gut, it was important. He was missing something about the Uchiha, something was off with Madara who suddenly wanted peace, who was weaponless, nearly naked in the woods, alone.

He knew he had a tendency to jump in and bark first, just as he knew he couldn’t do that in this particular situation. Hashirama had been halfway to the Uchiha compound to speak with Madara when he turned back to his own compound. He was being rash, Madara had acted like, like it was...a secret.

As closed lipped as his friend tended to be, this was a different kind of silence. It was almost deafening with the voice that needed to be heard, he felt like Madara had wanted to tell him more, to say more to him but...couldn’t.

“What does it mean?” Hashirama grimaced, frowning in frustration.

Had his clan turned against him, was there discontent in his ranks...was it the elders who pressed for continued bloodshed and not Madara?

Being a clan leader meant many things Hashirama knew the pressures of the position as well as his friend. Sometimes, it meant deception, even to your own clan. It was a difficult balance to keep. One Hashirama struggled with himself. He had never seen indecision in Madara’s eyes before, not since they were children, but then again, after that confrontation between their brothers and their fathers at the river that day...they hadn’t seen one another except for on the battlefield, where indecision meant death.

The green tea cooled in its cup as Hashirama continued to contemplate this unusual situation. Above the actions, above Madara’s dress or lack of amenities...such as a shirt...it was his words that perplexed Hashirama the most, his tone.

_“...have you, seen a pink haired woman? A kunoichi?”_

A kunoichi. Since when did Madara keep kunoichi in his presence much less in regard, and it was clear in his old friend’s tone that the woman was important to him. Almost as surprising as Madara’s inquiry about a kunoichi was his inquiry about their shared dream that they had once had as children. A village of peace.

_“Tell me Hashirama, have we built our village yet? Our dream when we were children has it...come to pass?”_

What did it mean...Madara had left then, quickly to look for the kunoichi, a woman. He had left him to look for a woman…

The thought and the words were so strange to Hashirama who never in his life, would he have imagined the Madara that he knew to abandon him, friend or foe, to find a woman.

“The Madara that I know.” Hashirama turned his cold tea in his hand counter clockwise looking down into the pale green. “That I know.” He muttered again to himself, turning the tea cup clockwise in his hands.

His hands stilled. “What if...he isn’t the Madara I know?” His soft brown eyes widened at the thought. He shook his head dismissing the idea. “I’m being foolish. Tobi would make fun of me, or yell at me for letting my imagination get carried away.”

...and yet, just like that Madara had told him their war was over.

Hashirama had come home and much to the surprise of his brother and the elders, withdrew their forces from the line where they had been preparing for the next attack. The Uchiha, on their side of approach had seen them retreat and had also stopped their advance, led by Izuna, Madara’s younger brother, they had stood down. No doubt waiting for Madara to return from his search for his kunoichi.

Tobirama had demanded an answer, a reason for this retreat claiming victory was within their grasp, that he had a new jutsu that would end the war, but Hashirama had waved him away. He had needed to think clearly, about what he had seen and heard from his friend earlier.

“So many questions with so few answers.” Hashirama muttered to himself, setting the cold tea down on the porch beside his leg. “What should I do now?” He tilted his head back and looked up at the rising dawn.

“Good morning Love.” Madara stroked his woman’s naked body, pet her hair down over her flawless skin and smiled into her beautiful green eyes.

“Uchiha.” Sakura blinked prettily up at him, a smile curving her own lips as she snuggled deeper into his warm embrace. “This is nice.” She murmured into his skin, her lips sending shivers down his back as she spoke.

“It is.” He agreed, pulling her to lay over top of him. “I’ve been thinking. I want to speak to myself, alone.”

Sakura nodded, pushing her annoying long hair off to the side. “I agree. Only you would know the best way to explain...us.”

“Us. Yes, but mostly...my presence here and my...change of heart.” He admitted.

“Ah.” She understood and didn’t envy him one bit. “Will he listen? You?”

Madara didn’t answer her right away. “No, but he will listen to my brother, to Izuna.”

“Izuna?” Sakura knew that Madara had a little brother, he had told her himself what the history books hadn't. “Do you think Izuna will listen to you more than, uh, you will?”

“I’m not sure if he will believe me but he will listen to me and if anything he will be a willing piece in making my other self understand, the levity of our situation and all of our futures.” His eyes traced the outlines of the leaves, he couldn’t quite look her in the eye, not yet. “My brother will die if I don’t do something, everything I had hoped for when I was a boy will crumble.”

“Everything I regret now…” He closed his mouth with a snap, he had said too much.

“Will not come to pass if we can change it now.” Sakura brought her slim hand to his cheek and turned his head to hers. “I will help you, if I can.”

Madara blinked away his doubts until the only thing he could see was green. They hadn’t been with one another very long, a little over a month, but it had been a month of seclusion. A month of only them, two living things in a world of nothing. He thought...at first that had been the thing that had drawn them together. When there is only one other person beside you, you only have them to turn to, for hate, for love…

...but last night, and the kiss...for it could have been nothing else that had brought them here, was not the aftermath of seclusion or environmental happenstance. It was...something else.

Madara brought his hand to his heart, his wrist skimming Sakura’s shoulder. He could feel it when he closed his eyes.

Thump Thump

His heart beating in time with hers.

THUMP THUMP

He could see it with his sharingan, the cord that connected them, a living bleeding cord of...fate?

Madara Uchiha had never believed in such things, until now.

Sakura’s little hands played with the ends of his hair that had fallen over his neck as she hummed quietly to herself, her cheek on his chest, her hair over his arm. Madara took a deep breath, he could feel the shifting of their bodies, her skin against his own...was this love?

“Sakura.” His voice was husky and low with warning. “Remember what I told you about my past self and stay away from him, until I tell you otherwise, avoid him at all costs.”

Green eyes flickered up to his. She nodded, turning her head and kissing the back of his hand. “I understand.”

“If you need to, come back here. I know you’ll not listen to me and stay here. I’m under no false impressions of your stubbornness, just remember, this time, is not the time you come from. In this time, your title will not impress your foe and they will not see you as a threat.” He continued to warn her.

“You think the shinobi of my time took me as a threat on sight alone?” She snorted. “Men I swear.” She rolled her eyes.

“I suppose you're right.” He looked down at her, he couldn’t help the pulling at the corners of his mouth. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked at her. Tiny, she was tiny and deceivingly...femine. “Just be careful and...try to avoid Hashirama, if you can and his brother Tobirama.”

Sakura blinked in surprise. “Tobirama? The Lord Second?”

Madara grimaced at the honorable title. The little twit… “Yes, he will not trust you. Remember Konoha hasn’t been founded yet. Tobirama is a formidable opponent, as much as I hate to admit it. He will not hesitate to...subdue you and question you. You will perplex him with your strange clothes, I’m sure.”

“Perplex him?” Sakura frowned. “My clothes?” She asked.

“Need to be changed.” He had meant to say something to her about that but hadn’t had the opportunity. “I was referring to your clothes but also...attitude. You do not act like most women of this time.”

Sakura raised a pink brow at the Uchiha. “You mean I’m not sniveling and bowing at your feet?” She nearly growled.

“Yes.” Madara said simply. “Wear those blue clothes you have in your bag and the vest.” He told her, lifting her up from his chest to set her on her feet. “...and please try not to draw too much attention to yourself.”

He would have liked to order her to stay put, to stay here where he knew she would be safe, but he knew she wouldn’t, and he also knew if he ordered her...she would leave just to spite him. They had only known one another for over a month, but he knew that much about her...he was sure.

“That’s fine.” Sakura put up little resistance, she was well aware of the situation and it’s magnitude. “I’ll collect herbs and replenish my medical supplies. Now that we are back in the world of the now, there is plenty for me to do.” She pulled her bra straps up and over her shoulders as he watched.

“Uh, what?” She blushed a bit at his attention.

“What in kami’s name is that?” He nodded to her bra.

“Uh, it’s a bra for my um, breasts. I wear it when I’m not fighting, it is much more comfortable than chest wraps.” Her face was beet red. Why wouldn’t he stop staring and did she really want him to stop? She still couldn’t believe she had slept with Madara Uchiha, of all the people she thought she would ever sleep with, he had been the absolute last person on her figmental list. For good reason.

“The things you people think you need.” He grumbled at her. “Are you ashamed of your body that you restrict it so?” He asked her, tilting his head to the side.

“What? No!” She glared at him.

“You’re beautiful Sakura, you do not need such ridiculous garments to cover yourself up with.” He stated plainly.

“Oh.” The heat evaporated from her fist. “Thank you.” The heat moved from anger to embarrassment.

“Chest wraps Hokage, they suit you much better than this flimsy thing.” He snapped her bra between the front clasp with his chakra, and watched it fall to the forest floor. “You’re a kunoichi.” Dark eyes met hers. 

“My kunoichi.” He smirked at her flustered expression, jumped up to the towering trees calling over his shoulder. “I’ll find you.” ...and he was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobirama

Tobirama rested the back of his head against the rough bark of the tall tree. Hashirama had ordered a stand down, on the verge of battle...a stand down. He just couldn’t understand it, the reasoning, the peculiar look in Hashirama’s eyes when he had told them that there would be no battle that day, or for the next few weeks.

They had retreated, he Tobirama, just as puzzled as the rest of their clan was unable to answer the multitude of questions thrown his way once Hashirama had left. He had come to the front to tell them to retreat and then...left. Just like that, without even the slightest word of explanation even to him, his closest confidant. 

Even for Hashirama’s eccentric personality, it was...odd and he didn’t know what it meant. It was bothersome.

Tobirama had watched the Uchiha watch them leave, the puzzled and suspicious looks on their enemies faces just as transparent as their own clans. Even the Uchiha had been surprised and unsure what to make of their unusual retreat. 

He could feel his brother’s chakra signature. Hashirama was at home, which is why he, Tobirama, was not.

Leaning forward, about to rise from his branch to go to the river he paused, his palms against the curve of the branch he sat on, and turned his head to the east. His brows furrowed over his red albino eyes. Madara Uchiha was...moving to the battlefield they had just left but...he could have sworn he had felt the man’s chakra signature on the border between Wind and Fire an hour ago.

How could he have made it from Wind to the heart of Fire country in less than...wait...were there two signatures? Tobirama leapt to his feet and threw his chakra out and around him, let the wind pick it up and carry it across the forest through the trees into the wind and open air. As soon as he felt it, as soon as his chakra began to wrap itself around it...it was gone.

“What the hell was that?” Tobirama’s deep voice rumbled quietly in his chest. It was almost as though there had been two of the same signatures in two different places at once. Impossible… It was an illogical thought and Tobirama pushed it from his mind. He was being ridiculous to even consider such a notion.

He had always been a good sensor, since childhood. It was the skill that had made it so easy for him to track his brother Hashirama to the river that day and everyday after until their father had intervened. Tobirama looked off into the distance over the treetops toward the desert. There was another signature, no...it was too weak, too subtle to be a chakra signature but...what was it? Intent...strong intent.

Sakura walked along the border between Wind and Fire, a familiar path she had taken many times with Gaara, the Kazekage when they had pretended not to be what they were...Kage, but old friends.

Again, she wondered how everyone was doing and if the timeline ran parallel to this one, if Naruto, Sasuke and Ino knew she was...gone. She hoped that wasn’t the case, for their sake, because she knew Naruto would never stop looking for her, would never give up because...they had already lost too many.

...and here I am sleeping with the enemy she mused, kicking a rock from her path.

Only, Madara wasn’t the enemy, not anymore. 

Had he really been the enemy though, perhaps. Yes he had been used, but he had also planned on putting everyone under his Infinite Tsukuyomi, like he knew what was best for the world...like he had been trying to save them, to prevent them from experiencing pain and loss and...Sakura stopped moving.

Was that it? He had mentioned Izuna a few times since they had been...here. Was that what he meant when he had told her there were many wrongs he meant to correct, that he was obligated to make right?

They had talked briefly before he had left. She had caught up with him at the mouth of the entrance to his little lost paradise and she had asked him what he meant to accomplish by speaking to his old self.

“To right all of my past wrongs I must start at the cause, me.”, he had told her seriously, regretfully.

“He regrets.” She looked down at her feet. “Izuna’s death, their war, leaving the village, his...hatred.” So, then why am I here, she didn’t understand.

Sakura continued down the border of the two nations she loved the most and continued to contemplate the other things Madara had told her. Such as staying away from Hashirama and his brother, those she understood and agreed with completely, but the other.

“I can’t feel your signature. Your chakra its like...you don’t have any, like you're not even a kunoichi. Be careful.” He had told her.

Be careful. Of what? Lacking a chakra signature? If anything that was good wasn’t it? If he was worried about Hashirama or Tobirama seeing her, finding her and being suspicious of her then lacking a chakra signature would help wouldn’t it, or was it the lack of her signature that bothered him as much as it bothered her...because what was strong enough, powerful enough to wipe her signature invisible?

The Rabbit goddess...was the only face that came to mind. The same woman who had taken them and had brought them...here.

“Why?” She lifted her hands out in front of her chest and spread her fingers out for inspection. 

“Why hide my signature?” She pushed chakra to her fingers and saw the satisfying glow of green healing chakra explode and flicker over her palms. She still had her chakra, it was only...masked, as Madara had said.

...and her eyes. She had asked him before he had left and he’d assured her they were her usual green, but they had been lavender, like Hinata’s, the Hyuga had told her so, Madara had confirmed it but he had...kissed her and they had changed back.

With a kiss...no, a connection. Sakura rubbed her jounin blues over her heart. Is that where they were connected? She certainly felt something for the man, but love...no, she reminded herself...people do not fall in love that quickly. That didn’t keep her from wondering about their strange connection though.

“Too many questions.” She growled at herself. “No answers!” She fumed.

“No way to get back home.” She sighed, putting one foot in front of the other. “I hope everyone is alright.”

Tobirama raced over the treetops, jumping nimbly from branch to branch, every once in a while trying out his new jutsu. Flashing from point A to point B every few miles, he pondered a name for his new technique. Nothing flashy like his brother would choose, but something adequately weighty to honor it’s form. It was afterall a formidable and until now, unheard of jutsu.

It enabled the caster to be as fast as lightning, the rumble in the veins was akin to thunder and he felt like a kami when he disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere. Thunder rumble flash, he thought to himself then shook his head, that was dumb. Flying thunder bolt, no…

Blue lightning...he rather liked that one but though it might be because he favored the color more than the name.

Tobirama slowed as he neared the border. He probably ought not to have come out this far on his own, but he was here now and he couldn’t sense any shinobi nearby, only that strange intent, the one that had drawn him to this point.

Red eyes scanned the layout before him. The trees of Fire Country were much thinner here in trunk size and in density. Intent was much more difficult to locate and he congratulated himself on being able to sense it this far from the Senju compound lands.

Jumping down from the tree he narrowed his eyes, had he lost it, it was just there a moment ago … there it was. Tobirama caught sight of a flash of pale skin. It was a woman. A woman alone on the border between Wind and Fire. She must be a decoy, Tobirama surmised.

It wasn’t uncommon for bandits and other low life’s to plague the border villages and their non-shinobi inhabitants. Having a female decoy was a common and pathetic ploy, one he wouldn’t fall for and he doubted many others would. They must be amateurs, his interest lost when he felt another chakra signature, a shinobi.

A sand shinobi. Tobirama hung back behind the cover of the dwindling forest as he watched the unknown shinobi halt just above the rise of the nearest sand dune. He had spotted the woman as well, moving along the sandy soil picking small flowers. The woman didn’t seem to notice the Sand nin and he wondered...were they together or…

“Hey there!” The Sand nin called out to the seemingly harmless woman.

Tobirama’s eyes narrowed as the woman slowly rose from her semi crouched position over a flower at her feet to her full...short height and surveyed the Sand nin with cool, calm eyes. She wasn’t afraid...or surprised to see the man. Who was she…

“Yes?” The woman watched the Sand nin approach her, setting the flower she had just picked in her small basket she carried on her other arm.

Why doesn’t she run, why doesn’t she scream or...why didn’t she bow down onto the ground before the male, before the shinobi...Tobirama watched as the Sand nin continued to walk closer and closer to the woman. Wait...the fool…

“Who are you?” The shinobi demanded of the woman, grabbing her forcefully and dragging her closer to him.

Had her fingers just twitched? Tobirama gripped the trunk of the tree he stood behind.

“What are you doing here on the border of Wind?” The shinobi shook the woman, making her drop her basket.

Tobirama frowned. She had let the basket go, she hadn’t dropped it, her fingers had slowly let it go , if she had dropped it out of fear or surprise by the shinobi’s rough treatment...it would have happened suddenly, not gradually as he had witnessed. The woman was playing, acting...pretending which meant that.

Kunoichi. 

The word fell into place in Tobirama’s head. There weren’t many Kunoichi, his cousin Toka Senju was the only female ninja in their clan, and she was a rarity. This woman though, he would bet against his brother Hashirama, that she...was a kunoichi like his cousin.

“Picking flowers.” The woman’s voice was clear, confident and not at all what the Sand nin had been expecting. Like Tobirama, he had expected her voice to shake, to be wary with fear but it had none of that in it...none at all.

“You’re a decoy I bet.” The Sand nin had come to the same conclusion Tobirama had, but hadn’t seen the tell tale signs that she might be a kunoichi and not a decoy, like Tobirama had from his hiding place. “Call out your friends, I will deal with them.” The shinobi shook the woman again, her long unbound hair waving around her shoulders and her back.

“There is no one.” The woman’s calm voice struck Tobirama as strange yet again. She showed no response, no fear, no anger at being manhandled, nothing. It was confusing to him and he could see it was also confusing to the Sand nin who held her in place. 

“I am alone.” She replied simply, looking up at the Sand nin with that same eerie calm.

Tobirama narrowed his already narrowed eyes. The woman was holding her anger back, she wasn’t calm, she was...controlled.

“Is that so?” The Sand nin’s tone had changed making Tobirama straighten his back in apprehension. This wasn’t good. Even if he was right and the woman was a kunoichi, not many were as skilled in combat as his cousin Toka.

“It’s not safe out here for little girls who run away from home.” The Sand nin smiled an oily smile down at the woman. “You could get hurt, or worse.” He let go of the woman’s arm to run his finger down the side of her cheek.

“You’re alone.” The woman stood her ground, not even stepping back from the Sand nin’s touch.

“I’m a man.” The Sand nin began to unbuckle his belt as he stepped closer to the woman.

“Shit.” Tobirama muttered under his breath stepping out from behind the tree flaring his chakra in warning.

“You’re no man.” The woman caught both men off guard as her fist began to glow green with chakra. “Real men don’t force themselves on women asshole.”

Sakura’s palm shot out from her side, hitting the Sand shinobi squarely in the chest. The man flew back and away from the Sixth Hokage. Sakura gave him little time to recover from her controlled and minor blow. She rushed him. 

“So fast.” Tobirama blinked.

With her right hand Sakura lifted the Sand nin into the air and sneered at him in disgust.

“It’s your lucky day scum. I promised someone I would keep a low profile, or else you’d be dead right now.” With reserve, Sakura threw him away from her. “Go home. Leave now and I’ll let you live.”

“Who...who are you?” The Sand nin scrambled to his feet and stood before her shaking slightly.

“No one that concerns you, unless you plan on fighting me?” Sakura threw her arms out in front of her cracking her knuckles with a grin. “I admit, I could use the outlet but...you’re not much of a shinobi, I’d hardly break a sweat.”

He ran.

Sakura turned on her heel to face Tobirama and bowed low with respect. “Senju Sama, would you mind, not telling anyone about this?”

“You knew I was here the whole time didn’t you?” Tobirama’s red eyes flickered swiftly over the woman taking in her clothes, her hair and her stance. “Kunoichi.”

“Shit.” Sakura took a deep breath and laughed a bit. 

Tobirama stepped out into the open space between them and waited. Unlike the Sand nin, he wasn’t about to underestimate the woman.

“I knew you were there, but only when you flared your chakra, not before that. It surprised me actually. I thought it was just him.” Sakura waved her hand to where the Sand nin had disappeared over the rise of the next dune. “I felt him approaching, but uh, not you.”

Sakura cocked her head to the side, as if considering the man. He was taller she decided, than even his reincarnation, and younger perhaps, closer to her age.

Red eyes continued to watch the strange woman who was dressed like a man, who spoke to him like a man and who...clearly wasn’t at all put off by his immense chakra signature.

“Um.” Sakura hesitated. 

He wasn’t moving or speaking, she wasn’t sure what to do next, so she stood there and looked back at him. His eyebrows twitched. His red eyes watched her intently, but he made no move toward her or away from her. It was...unnerving to say the least to stand in the presence of such a man, in silence.

Tobirama watched the woman's face. Clearly she had very little training in schooling her features, everything she thought showed in her green eyes, the pinch of her soft mouth and the swaying of her arms at her sides. She didn’t know what to do, how to regard him and it confused him. 

She had known exactly what to do with the other shinobi and he knew for a fact he was releasing his chakra signature at full force. She could be under no false hopes that he was as weak of an opponent as the Sand nin had been, and yet...she showed no sign of fear, but all the signs of...embarrassment.

He had followed her intent here because it had intrigued him. Now that he was here, he was even more intrigued...and confused. She hadn’t been lying to the other shinobi, she was alone. She had no reservations about attacking him when he had made a move to accost her, but she had made no move before that. She was patient and...peaceful. She had only shown aggression when offered aggression.

Tobirama loosened his stance a tad. She had also bowed to him with respect, shown him her neck...a stranger. Everything about her was contradictory and he...didn’t like it but, nor could he deny this feeling that she wasn’t an enemy, that he need not be wary of her.

He had tried to explain it to Hashirama once, but his brother had failed miserably in understanding him. Tobirama could sense chakra signatures from a continent away if he concentrated, but he could also sense intent, emotions or feelings from a shorter distance.

Tobirama sensed no ill intent from this strange pink haired woman, only...curiosity and admiration. He frowned again. Admiration? He continued to stand there quietly, watching her watch him. She began to fidget, her mood changing from curiosity to annoyance. He smirked. She glared.

“What?” She almost barked out.

“Why are you dressed so strangely and why are you alone? Kunoichi or not, you shouldn’t walk the borders alone. It’s dangerous.” He asked her and reprimanded her at the same time.

“You’re not going to ask me my clan or my name?” She cocked her head to the side, a finger coming up to tap on her lips as her foot tapped on the sand at her feet. “Aren’t you going to accuse me of being a spy or an enemy?”

“Are you a spy or an enemy?” He asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No.” Sakura smiled at the Lord Second sweetly. “You don’t know that thought. I thought you would be more suspicious of me.” The second part she seemed to be saying only to herself.

“Normally I would be but…” Tobirama paused. 

“There is something off about you. Something different and it isn’t just your clothes or the words you use.” He continued to watch her. He could see the understanding in her eyes, again...she wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings, she would make a terrible spy.

“You’re too honest. I sense no ill will from you.” Tobirama took a few steps backward, his eyes still on the strange woman. “I have enough to worry about than one stray kunoichi.” He turned and was gone in a flash.

Sakura blinked. “That was...not what I expected.” Sakura picked her basket and the spilled flowers back up from the ground, looking over her shoulder in the direction she was sure Tobirama had gone and shrugged. 

“All in all, that was kinda a let down. I would have thought Tobirama Senju would have been...more impressive.” Sakura laughed at herself. More impressive, after Madara… men like that seemed less impressive. She could feel the heat in her cheeks. Yes, Madara was impressive.

Tobirama watched the kunoichi from the opposite side of the forest he had entered from, his chakra pulled back, hidden inside his coils. He needed to know more about this strange woman who knew his name, his clan. He didn’t see her as a threat no, but only a fool would leave a woman like that to her own devices, a woman who knew more about him it seemed than he knew about her, though he knew he had never seen or met her before. He would have remembered her.


	12. Chapter 12

Madara walked down the stairs in the Naka shrine. There was something he needed to check before speaking to his brother. Something he needed to pick up.

The torches along the wall blazed to life at his chakra signature, illuminating the sacred room and it’s stone tablet. Madara stood before the tablet, looking down at it’s roughened surface with a critical eye. 

This had been the place where he had gone wrong. In his mind’s eye he could see Hashirama before him, the look of hurt and confusion in his eyes. Then, that look of hope had infuriated him, now...it only saddened him. He had been such a fool, driven by hate and fear and...sorrow.

Jealousy...resentment...Tobirama had lived while Izuna had died. It was a constant slap in the face every time he saw the man, every time he heard him speak was a personal humiliation. He had tried to bear it, Izuna wasn’t the first of his siblings to die at the hands of the Senju and Tobirama and Hashirama had lost two brothers at the hands of the Uchiha.

He had tried, but when his own clan had begun to turn on him...he could bear the burden no more and had...acted as he saw fit. In a way he thought was best, justifying it under the false pretense of...saving the world.

He had been so consumed by loss and anger...desperation he realized. Madara brought his hand up to his face, his fingers stroking his chin where Sakura had hit him. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. She had told him many things in the last month. The way history perceived him, the way she perceived him...but there were too many things she hadn’t known, things only he could find the answers to.

Pushing his chakra to his coils his eyes spun and glowed even in the torchlight. Pushing his chakra further into his coils he brought forth his rinnegan and froze. There in plain sight he could see what he hadn’t been able to see before with his mangekyo, the tell tale scratch marks, different from the original etching...of Zetsu.

“So. It’s true. The demon vandalized our sacred stone to manipulate me.” Fury blazed within his soul. Not at Zetsu, but at himself. Madara nodded once to the stone tablet in front of him. It was good that he had come, he had needed the conviction this discovery, this confirmation provided him.

Tracing the tablet with his forefinger he read each column one by one, taking out the scratch marks left by Zetsu with his chakra and the force of the rinnegan, he closed his eyes until the characters were burned into his mind. When he opened his eyes once more, the column glowed a deep gentle red, warm in color, warm in feeling as he flattened his palm over the cold granite and read the surface, the original writing of the Sage of Six Paths, warning the future generations, his future descendants against the powers of the rinnegan.

Madara read the story of Kaguya, her misfortune and about the kami tree and the warning against the tsukiyomi that Zetsu had changed to entice him, to manipulate him. His eyes narrowed as he read the story of Kaguya’s daughter, how she had bestowed the gift of eternal reincarnation on her, much like Hagoromo had done for his two sons, Indra and Asura.

With both palms on the stone tablet before him, visions passed behind his eyes into his conscious state. Sakura of another time, a brother he had no recollection of and a land he had never been to that seemed familiar. Flashes of light in the form of orbs that he realized were the sun passed over his head, over and over faster and faster to depict the years, the decades and then red, the horizon flooded with blood.

Foresight and death.

Calm passed between his skin and the rough granite of the tablet. Pink floated in his left peripheral, soft brown in his right. Laughter and warmth filled his head...he brought his hand away from the stone’s surface and rubbed his face. Looking down in surprise he saw that he had been weeping. He looked back at the stone before him and understood.

It felt as though the stone was...thanking him. Madara nodded at the tablet in understanding. “I’ll make this right.”

His father had never been the kind of man to dwell on the past, thinking only in the now, to the next battle or the next war. That was the extent of the man’s vision. Madara had always seen it as his father’s greatest weakness, for no real man could only think in the now. A real man had to think of then and when and if.

Madara had always thought himself to be a better man than his father had been but now, he knew he had been just like him. He had made the same mistakes as his father, no...his hand dropped to his side hanging limply, his mistakes...had been worse. He was disappointed in himself.

He was ashamed, but he couldn’t dwell on that now. He had come here to verify Zetsu’s hand in his original demise, but also to retrieve something of their mothers. Something Izuna would recognize, something they had sealed here long ago after she had died, that only the two of them knew existed. Irrefutable proof that he was his brother and that what he said was the truth.

“Izuna.” Madara’s harsh tone cut through the morning mist like a knife. “Why did you retreat in the face of our enemy? I have just come from the front lines. Imagine my surprise to arrive for battle to find it...empty.” He looked down at his brother’s disgruntled face.

Izuna rose to his feet. “The Senju, they retreated. I didn’t call our men back. Do you really think I would back down from a fight with that bastard Tobirama staring at me from across the field with those blessed ugly red eyes of his?” Izuna’s hand rested on the sword hilt at his side. He had yet to change out of his armor.

“The Senju retreated.” Madara rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Was Hashirama there?” He asked his younger brother.

“Yes, he is the one who called for their retreat, and then he left!” Izuna growled. “What does this mean brother?”

“Hashirama called for a retreat and then left…” Madara rubbed his chest. It still tingled from the night before. He had the most unusual dream about a woman with pink hair, whose eyes were a summer grass green and whose fists could crumple mountains. 

“What else, is there anything else you can tell me, Izuna?” Madara asked his brother.

“No, nothing else happened except that, the Senju seemed just as confused by their clan head’s order as we were. That bastard Tobirama stood stock still, in shock after his brother gave him the order to retreat.” Izuna shook his head back and forth. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Madara agreed, his hand over his heart. None of this made sense.

“What will you do, the elders are calling for counsel to discuss what it means and how we should react.” Izuna told him.

“Hn.” Madara looked out over the top of the Uchiha compound gate. “Later. I need to...think about this.”

Izuna nodded in understanding. His brother could be impulsive at times, but never careless. What had happened today was significant, of course his brother would want to think about it before addressing the elders. “I’ll keep them occupied until you return.”

Madara nodded his thanks to his brother and leapt to the rooftop, then over the gate. Izuna stood on the dirt path and watched his brother’s figure fade into the distance. Madara would come up with a plan, he always did.

With her basket in hand, Sakura walked leisurely along the border back to the marker she had left that would take her back to Madara’s secret place. She smiled to herself. His secret place, that he had shared with her.

She wondered if he had found Izuna yet and how their talk was going. She didn’t envy him his task, she could only imagine what he must be feeling, anticipating seeing his younger brother alive and well again, after losing him...after the path he had taken after his brother’s death.

‘The Curse of the Hatred’, she knew so little about it. What she did know she had gleaned from the journal entries of the past Hokages, like Hashirama and Tobirama Senju.

Tobirama Senju. Sakura tilted her head back and looked up at the scattered clouds in the sky feeling much like Shikamaru. Madara had warned her against the man and yet...he had posed no threat against her, had almost been...nice. Surely Madara knew the man better than she did having come from the same era as he, having dwelt in the same village, even if it had been briefly.

Yet, the image of the man she had from his reanimation and the image of the man Madara had planted in her head...didn’t match the man she had met between Wind and Fire. Perhaps the history books were wrong about Tobirama the Lord Second, as they were about Madara Uchiha.

Sakura continued to walk toward the small pile of rocks, her finger sliding over the corked top of the small vial of Madara’s blood that he had given her to open the seal. Tapping her finger on top of the cork she wondered about the differences in the two men she had encountered.

Madara, for good reason, was not the man she had imagined. The depth of his personality was deeper than anything she could have anticipated. The depth of his emotions were the most surprising. Sakura blushed recalling his embrace that morning. She could still feel the warmth of his touch if she closed her eyes. He...cared. For her.

Sakura smiled to herself as the last of the border forest fell away around her. She was almost there. Her trip into the surrounding area had been a fruitful one, a peaceful one aside from that one minor interruption. Sakura could see the small pile of rocks ahead of her, her fingers still tracing the top of the cork that held Madara’s blood...and paused.

Sakura turned her head to the East, someone was coming. She knew that signature...Madara? She turned her body to see a widening cloud of dust and sand presumably spurting from Madara’s heels. Why was he running so quickly, had something happened? Her fingers dropped away from the vial in her pocket to hold her basket of collected flowers and herbs in front of her as she waited for him to arrive.

He hadn’t been gone that long, she hoped that meant his talk with his brother had gone well. If it had gone poorly surely it would have taken him longer, unless...she pursed her lips together it had gone really really poorly. She hoped not.

Squinting and covering her eyes with one hand she could see him more clearly now. His clothes had changed and he was wearing light armour now...did that mean his talk was unsuccessful? Where had he gotten the clothes and armor unless...

Too many variables were running through his head, too many unknown factors had to be considered. Where should he even begin. He had left Izuna at their compound to come here, to the only place in the world he knew he could think alone and uninterrupted. What in the hell did Hashirama mean by withdrawing, what was his plan...the thoughts mashed against the side of his head making him clench his fists at his side with irritation.

It wasn’t like Hashirama to resort to trickery, the man was a walking sign post for kami’s sake. Not knowing his enemies motives behind such an outrageous act were driving him mad.

Slowing his pace he saw a woman, a small woman standing a mere half a mile from his...place and froze. His boots digging into the hot sand, his hand reaching over his shoulder to pull his gun bai from his back. What in kami’s name was a lone woman doing out here in the middle of nowhere...by his sanctuary and why in the hell hadn’t he sensed her? Even civilians had a barest sense of a chakra signature.

“Madara?” The woman’s voice was soft, questioning...light.

Thump Thump

The pressure in his chest caught him off guard, choking him. He took an involuntary step back, his eyes fixed narrowly on the strangely dressed woman.

Madara watched the woman’s face cloud over in confusion, like she had been expecting him to do or say something in return to her informal greeting. His heart raced and his blood sung in his veins. This woman, she resembled the same woman he had been dreaming about, that he had seen in his…

“Madara, it is you isn’t it? Your chakra is...tense.” The woman spoke again, her green eyes passing over his form quickly, his hands, his face...his gun bai. Her eyes darted to the side where she could feel another chakra signature racing toward them. “You’re not…”

Without warning he darted forward, his fingers reaching, grasping out for her throat.

Sakura dodged right then left, leapt up into the air to avoid his grasp, his kick then his palm as it shot out toward her face, her eyes wide. This wasn’t her Madara. Oh kami, where was her Madara, had they met, had they...had this one killed him or… no, she could feel it now, he was ... “Shit!”

A powerful leg came down across her unguarded back. He was so fast. Sand and dust rose up around her as she struggled to her feet, healing chakra moving along her coils to the point of impact repairing tissue, trauma and organs.

“Fucking hell.” Sakura wiped a thin rivet of blood from the corner of her mouth and chin as hard green eyes looked at the Uchiha who stood only a few feet from her, carefully avoiding his eyes. “So brutal.”

“What is your name, and what brings you to this place? You know me, but I do not know you...kunoichi.” His voice was hard, much harder than it had been even when she had first faced him on the battlefield during their war. This man before her...was definitely not her Madara. “Tell me woman, give me a reason not to kill you where you stand.”

Sakura grit her teeth and widened her stance.

Madara laughed amused by her audacity. “I will admit you are skilled, for a woman to doged my attacks, but to stand before me is to welcome death.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her with such a cold indifference it made her blood boil.

“I’m beginning to see why things turned out the way they did.” Sakura muttered under her breath.

Madara smirked at the woman who clearly refused to stand down to him. It was almost admirable...but foolish. It was a pity really, he thought as he watched her shake her hair back from her face, she was rather beautiful...too bad he was going to kill her for her insolence. 

“Oh well.” He sighed, lifting his gun bai up at his side, swinging his arm and weapon back behind himself. “Perhaps in another life.”

He darted forward, his huge fan-like weapon crashing down just a hair's width from Sakura’s nose. Leaping high up into the air and twisting left to avoid a well aimed fireball she skidded through the sand to roll, doge, jump and kick up, only to be blocked again by his damnable weapon.

“Crap.” She breathed heavily through her nose, wiping the perspiration from her brow. Feinting left then right, dodging kick after kick she pushed chakra to her palms and slammed them down within an inch of one another into the sand at her feet.

Madara jumped back and away, shielding his body with the length of his fan, sand blasted off either side of the weapon. “Impressive kunoichi. Very impressive considering you have no chakra signature.”

He lunged forward again at break neck speed trapping her on her back against the hot desert sand. “Not impressive enough I’m afraid.”

“Now, tell me kunoichi…” He ground her wrists into the sand by her head as he pressed his body down against hers trapping her beneath him. “What are you doing out here alone in the desert, here specifically?”

“She was waiting for me.” A deep voice spoke from behind them. “Sorry it took me so long, Sakura.”

Sakura looked past the spiky black hair that covered most of her face to see more spiky black hair. “Madara, fucking took you long enough, what the hell were you waiting for a fucking invitation?” She growled at the man.

The man on top of her stared while the man she spoke to rolled his eyes.

“She’s got a mouth on her doesn’t she?” Madara asked the other Madara conversationally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me~


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura shifted her weight impatiently under the Madara she had started calling in her head, Other Madara. She had hoped with Madara to distract him, she could slide her body out from under him and put a bit of much needed distance between them, but he had sensed her movement and without taking his eyes from Madara, pressed her more firmly into the ground beneath him with his hips.

“You have some gall impersonating me, demon.” Other Madara glared up at Madara, his red eyes spinning.

“You would think me a demon wouldn’t you.” Madara sighed, pushing his chakra to his orbital coils. “I remember when I would hear the women and children screaming it in terror, I used to love it. Let’s make this a bit easier.”

“What the…” Other Madara collapsed on top of Sakura knocking the wind out of her.

“Mangekyo?” She pushed Other Madara off of her, stood up with her hands on her knees leaning over catching her breath.

“Clearly it was my only option.” Madara walked over to...himself, crouched down beside him and lifted him up and over his shoulder. “Come on, before I wake up.”

“Right.” Sakura gathered her basket, pulled the cork of the vial and dribbled the blood over the rocks. Like before Madara’s sharingan came red and glowing to the surface of the rock and the ground beneath their feet began to fall away revealing the staircase down into his sanctuary.

“Do you think he’ll listen, he didn’t seem like he wanted to listen earlier when we met.” He could hear the woman speaking to…

“Well he wouldn’t, you’re a woman.” A sickeningly familiar voice spoke in return. “I wasn’t much of a gentleman back then, er now.” The male responded playfully. “Aside from two or three known kunoichi, most women were harmless, much less a threat to me.”

The woman snorted. 

“I’m sure you made quite an impression, what with that wall of sand you threw at him.” A deep chuckle and a light smacking noise could be heard closeby. “I wasn’t exaggerating when I told you I would find you interesting Sakura.”

So, the woman’s name was Sakura. How fitting...and deceivingly gentle. The strength and brutality behind her fists were nothing short of...incredible. He had only seen destructive power like that from himself or Hashirama but never...never from a woman. Of course he was impressed.

Other Madara cracked his eye open slightly and nearly jumped to his feet. They were...in his place and...he closed his eye again as the woman shifted her gaze to him. He was the only one who could enter this place, he had made sure of it with the seal he had stolen from the Uzumaki, a blood seal.

“I see now that you were going easy on me, when we met. If you had really wanted to kill me, you would have. Why didn’t you?” The woman’s voice was light but inquisitive.

“Hn.” Came the male’s reply. “Perhaps my heart wasn’t in it.” 

Silence. A shuffling of clothes and a feminine sigh.

“I never wanted to kill you and your shinobi Sakura, only subdue you. I thought I was saving you.” The man told the woman.

“I know.” The woman’s voice was soft, forgiving.

“Did you get to see your brother Madara? Did you see Izuna yet?” The woman asked...himself…

“No, I felt your chakra and mine explode and came to you.” Another shuffling of clothing. “I see that I made the right choice.

“Oh. thank you.” She responded gently, another shuffling sound, a kissing noise.

“What do we do now?” The woman asked, her voice muffled.

“For starters it would be best to stop speaking in front of him like he’s still asleep, because he isn’t.” Madara kicked himself...who grunted and rolled up into a sitting position ignoring the narrowed eye of the pink haired woman sliding from the man who looked to be his twin.

Green eyes took in the two men before her. They looked nearly identical. One was of course older than the other one but not by much. Other Madara had a harder look in his eye, a sharp cut to his mouth, that her Madara lacked but all in all...nearly identical.

“Amazing.” Sakura breathed out.

Other Madara’s dark obsidian eyes flickered to her then back to...himself. The woman was even more beautiful up close.

“Who are you, if you’re not a demon, and how did you obtain the Eternal Mangekyo?” Other Madara demanded when no one spoke.

“I’m you, with the rinnegan.” Madara’s eyes changed from red to purple in an instant.

Other Madara’s eyes narrowed, his whole body jerking forward.

“Stop.” Sakura threw her arm out to stop the man from lunging at Madara but Madara laughed.

Other Madara’s skin tingled and jumped where it had made contact with Sakura’s arm. He ignored it to focus on the man in front of him, but kept the woman in his peripheral, just in case.

“I’d never thought I would be so foolish but I suppose hind sight really is 20/20.” He said conversationally, watching the Other Madara sit back on his heels, frozen from the power of the rinnegan. “It seems brute force is all I understand.”

Sakura turned her head from Other Madara to her Madara at the gentle sadness in his tone of voice.

“Madara.” Sakura reached out and took his hand in hers.

Other Madara watched with suspicion and annoyance. So, she was taken by...a man that looked and spoke like him. The chakra signature...was the same, his movements, his personality though was, off.

“Let me guess.” Other Madara began confidently and slightly condescending. “You’re going to tell me you’re me, from the future. That you know about this place,” He waved his hand around their surroundings. “...because we’re the same person and you’ve come back from the future to give me advice on how to win the war with the Senju and you’ve brought your...woman with you to entice me.”

“Excuse me?” Sakura glared at the Other Madara who smirked arrogantly at her.

Turning to her Madara she spoke heatedly. “I’m glad you’re above this now or I’d have to kick you in the balls with a few chakra enhanced kicks.”

Madara snorted, then turned to himself. “Not exactly, but you’re not that far off either.”

“Ridiculous.” The other Madara crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Ridiculous, but not unbelievable he told himself.

“You are right about a few things. I know of this place because you know of it. You got lost in a sand storm when you were crossing the desert with your father. You went in the wrong direction because you thought you heard a voice on the wind. Your mother’s voice didn’t you?” Madara spoke to himself alone, Sakura remained silent, looking on.

“That’s…” Other Madara stuttered.

“You fell down a hole, a deep dark terrifying hole and woke up in…”

“Paradise.” The two Madara’s spoke together.

“Hn.”

“Then why is she here?” Other Madara cut his eyes to Sakura who raised a pink brow at the man.

“She is...special to me.” Madara squeezed Sakura’s hand that lay still between them. “To you.”

Dark eyes met across the divide. Other Madara nodded. “Fine, continue.”

“I’m not here to tell you how to win the war against the Senju. I’m here to stop the war.” Madara paused here, knowing his other self would have a thing or two to say about it. As predicted, Other Madara jumped to his feet and threw a hand out at Madara in accusation.

“Stop it, you’re the reason why the Senju retreated, you’re the reason they left the Uchiha at the confrontation?” Other Madara roared, furious at his...interference standing up abruptly with his fists clenched at his sides. “We were going to crush them once and for all!”

Sakura looked from one man to the other, the same man and ducked her head. It was pitiful to watch, it hurt her heart to see the before and the after sitting across from one another, looking into one another’s eyes. One mouth pressed tightly together in anger, the other remorse.

“You would have lost.” She said quietly, her voice rising between the two men, her men. She realized, she could not care for one without accepting the other.

“Quiet woman, do not speak in the place of men.” Other Madara growled out at her.

“Izuna would have died if Madara hadn’t told Hashirama Senju Sama that he wished to end the war.” Sakura’s dark green eyes remained focused on the furious man ignoring his comment, one of her hands remained in Madara’s, the other pushed the hair back from her face. “Madara knew this, that’s why he stopped it. Thank him.” 

Her voice rose an octave and her eyes hardened. “Now sit down and fucking listen.”

Sakura pushed chakra to her other hand, reached across the short distance, grabbed Other Madara by the ankle and pulled him back down to the floor. “Sit.”

Other Madara grit his teeth, sat up from the sprawled position Sakura had thrown him into and muttered under his breath. “Only I would pick a woman with a temper as volatile as my own.”

“What was that?” Sakura hissed while Madara chuckled. That’s one way of proving he was who he said.

“Nothing.” Other Madara nodded to Sakura, lifting his chin in the most dignified manner making Madara laugh out loud.

“She’s humbling, isn’t she?” Madara gave his counterpart a knowing look.

“Yeah, a little.” Other Madara admitted reluctantly.

“Maybe I should leave the two of you alone to talk.” Sakura let go of Madara’s hand, kissed his cheek and gave the Other Madara a warning look. “I won’t leave the sanctuary but I’ll give you two some privacy.”

“As you will.” Madara watched Sakura walk away, turning back to find his other self was also watching her. “She’s taken. I know what you’re thinking, but she’s mine. Even if we are the same person, two bodies.” He gestured between them with a strong hand.

“Won’t work.” Madara eyed his other self.

Other Madara didn’t say anything at first, only watching Sakura until the last moment, until she disappeared around the corner of a wide trunked tree did he cast his eyes back to the man in front of him. “The same person.”

Other Madara pondered those words. 

“We’re not exactly the same person.” His voice was controlled, but his mind was not. As far as he could see the differences between the two of them were minor and...easily copied. If all of this was true, if this other him...was him from a failed future then as far as he was concerned, that woman...was also his.

“Well, not quite I suppose. People change don’t they?” Madara acknowledged the differences between them. “I’d like to tell you a story, if you’ll listen, about a man who lost his last brother in a bloody pointless war, how he built a village that he and his childhood friend dreamt up together by the shore of the Naka river and how he abandoned that village, broke his best friend’s heart and sold his soul to the Rabbit goddess...all without knowing what he had done, because he was manipulated by grief, power and the Curse of the Hatred...also known as, Zetsu.”

Other Madara’s eye brows raised to his hairline, he sat back, his arms out bracing his weight behind him…”I’m listening.”

Madara smiled. “I thought you might.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 荼毘


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adult content
> 
> rating changed, forgot to do it last time sorry.

“Do you think he believed you?” Sakura stood beside Madara and watched the Other Madara race away across the sand back toward the Uchiha compound.

“Yes, even if he tries to deny it, he can’t. The proof is irrefutable.” Madara squeezed her hand and led her back into his sanctuary.

“What about Izuna, don’t you want to see him?” She questioned as they walked down the stairs.

“Very much but it will have to wait. Let that one tell Izuna what has happened and about my presence. It will be easier for him that way.” Madara hopped down from the ledge followed closely by Sakura. His brother wouldn’t take it well, he knew, it would be very hard for Izuna to accept this.

“Are you not worried though, that he will try to manipulate the situation, turn Izuna against you? I’m not sure I trust that Madara.” Sakura looked up at the man beside her. 

She knew she wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t thought of already, but she was curious to know how he felt about the situation. He talked to her, was open with her, but only when she asked him things directly. He had changed so much in the small amount of time they had spent with one another, but for things like this, more personal things, sometimes he required prompting.

Madara laughed. “Wise and beautiful. No, he is not to be trusted, yet. I know myself, he was plotting the moment his eyes opened, the moment he heard your voice.” Madara looked down at the woman beside him. Speaking of trust...

“Care to tell me why I felt Tobirama’s chakra signature near the border, where you were collecting your flowers?” He pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, looking down at her with a slight smile on his lips. He had never considered himself a jealous man, but...he hadn’t had anything to be jealous over before, other than Hashirama whose brother had lived, while his last brother had died.

“You know...of course you do.” Sakura rolled her eyes. Sometimes, when it was just them as it had been for over a month now, she forgot who he was. When they kissed, when they touched one another it was easy to see him as a man and not the legend that he was.

Tobirama dropped down outside the gates of the Senju compound, his hand over the formula tags in his left pouch. It had been close, for a moment he thought she had seen him. Her head had lifted looking directly at him but then he had felt it...that ominous signature, Madara Uchiha.

Even though he was no match for the man, he wouldn’t have left except the woman she didn’t seem worried. She had greeted him by name, smiled even...it was daunting and slightly disturbing. What was the connection between that woman and Madara…

Tobirama nodded to the sentries as he passed through the gate, his feet carried him to the main house where his brother greeted him with his own abstract sort of smile.

“Hashirama.” Tobirama sat down beside his brother on one of the cushions at the table, nodding to the maid who set down a tray for tea. “Why did you tell us to retreat?”

Hashirama looked up at his brother, the corners of his eyes creased with indecision. “I met Madara Uchiha in the woods today, on the way to join you and our men. He wore no armor, no weapon, not even a shirt and…”

Tobirama’s brows creased, the corners of his eyes cracking like his brothers in confusion. Was that when he had felt his signature, Madara’s chakra signature in the woods that morning? Had he been on the way to see his brother to tell him to retreat? What were they planning together and why hadn’t Hashirama told him about it...

“...he asked me about a kunoichi. He asked me if I’d seen a pink haired woman.” Hashirama’s voice was perplexing. So concentrated on his own words he hadn’t seen Tobirama’s head jerk up at the mention of a pink haired kunoichi. 

“Then, he asked me if...well, he asked me something about our childhood, a dream both of us had once a long time ago. A dream I thought he had forgotten, until today.” Hashirama looked down at the steaming cup of tea in his hands as though he were surprised to see it there.

Tobirama wondered again at the woman’s connection with the Uchiha, why would a woman such as that align herself with a brute and a monster like Madara Uchiha. Something wasn’t right about this. The woman he’d met by the desert...didn’t seem the type to take interest in a man like Madara. Was he wrong, did he make a mistake leaving her in the desert alone with the man?

Should he go back? So consumed with his own thought he almost missed his brother’s next words.

“Then he told me...we were no longer at war.” Hashirama looked up at his brother with moist eyes. “Just like that, the war is over.”

Tobirama considered his brother for a moment. “You don’t actually believe him do you?” He said automatically. “Out of nowhere, just like that so sudden when just last month he vowed to burn all Senju until nothing but lifeless husks remained?”

None of this made sense. The woman. Hashirama’s words. Even Madara’s conflicting chakra signatures...none of it.

“I know Tobi but...you weren’t there, you didn’t see his eyes, his voice was...he was different.” Hashirama took a sip of his tea. “I wonder who this woman is, that he is searching for. I wonder if she has something to do with his sudden change of heart. She must be an extraordinary person to change someone like Madara so profoundly.” Hashirama vocalized his thoughts.

Tobirama remained silent, lost in his own internal thoughts. She is, he agreed with his brother silently, replaying his and Sakura’s interaction from earlier in his head from start to finish. An extraordinary woman indeed. Intelligent, strong and poised. Clearly well bred. He wondered what clan she was from. With hair like that it was hard to say and there weren’t any clans that he knew of that sported green eyes like hers. The woman was a mystery, Madara Uchiha, notwithstanding.

Madara walked through the gates of the Uchiha compound, his compound. Since he had left the woman and...himself in the desert, he had been thinking. Thinking of what the man had said and of what he thought it meant, what he should do and how he felt about it.

His brother had died, killed by Tobirama…

They lost the war, he had lost to Hashirama who had...offered to kill himself to save his brother…

In the end they had built their village the village they had dreamt of as children by the river. Children born into an era of blood and hate…

Izuna…

He could see how all of what the man had told him would come to pass if he were honest with himself. He could see how Izuna’s death would...consume him. His last brother.

He didn’t have the mangekyou, his brother still lived. He wouldn’t trade his brother for that power but...it would have been helpful if he could have read the stone tablet himself, as proof of the other...Madara’s words.

Zetsu...the man had told him that this thing had changed the stone, deceived them and...there was more to what had happened he was sure. It would just be like him to keep things from himself that he knew would sway his decision. He was just as sure that what the man had told him, was the truth.

What puzzled him the most though, was the amount of respect the man had shown the woman. Saying not a word against her, even when making light of her attitude. Praising her strength along with her intelligence even though it was her beauty you saw when you looked at her first.

Who the hell was that woman, to have garnered such influence over him. He scoffed and kicked a rock out of his way as he walked. Women were for bedding, not for combat and yet...she had whipped him around and brought him to his knees with one tug of her wrist.

If anything, he would admit...she was strong...and maybe, yes...she was intelligent.

What had the woman said to him before he’d left them… ‘Nearly five decades separate you from who you are now and what you will become’.

Five decades…

‘Even that amount of time did not stem the flow of despair in your heart. It was as clear to me as your indecision is now Uchiha, what you do now will set the path for your future. Will you choose blood or happiness?’

What a strange woman. Madara ran his fingers through his spiky hair. Blunt. Confident. Those piercing green eyes of hers when she spoke, it was like she could see through him to...well, the future. Of course she could, he chastised himself. She was from the future. The sixth Hokage...a woman...the leader of a village. He shook his head, he still wasn’t sure if he believed them or not but...how could he not...

“Brother!” Izuna called to him from across the courtyard.

Madara turned, stumbled backward grasping his heart...Izuna had blood covering his chest, a wide gash across his abdomen, blood pouring from the fatal wound...Madara stumbled and fell to his knees, his palms planted firmly against the dirt panting. It was as they had said, had warned him...Izuna was dead, no...he was right there...would die if he didn’t... “No…”

“Madara!” Izuna cried out, dropping down beside his brother. “What has happened? Are you ill, are you wounded?”

Madara looked up at Izuna, his face worried, his chest clean of the tain of blood...a vision he realized shaking his head to clear it from his mind. Damn that woman. His skin tingled where she had touched him earlier...what was this strange connection. Madara’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell to the ground unconscious.

_”Brother, there is more to life than power. Love, love is just as important as strength. I love you brother, can you not be satisfied with what you have? Why are you always looking for more, striving for what you do not have, what you can not control? Are you not content with your own greatness, for you are great, far greater than I am, when will it be enough? What will bring you happiness?”_

Madara woke with a jerking of his arm, his hand over his heart. “Happiness.” He mumbled, his hand on his head. “I had forgotten that I had even longed for such a thing once.”

The man in his dream had called him brother. A man he had never seen before but he knew...he knew. Brother. 

Thump Thump

“This annoying tingling.” Madara gripped the fabric over his heart. “That woman.” He hadn’t dreamt of her this time but...he couldn’t get her out of his head. That woman.

“Brother, Madara are you well, what was that? You just collapsed.” Izuna was sitting on a cushion beside his bed looking down at him with worried eyes. Izuna, his younger brother.

“Izuna.” Madara closed his eyes and breathed in deep. “I’m okay. I just had a dream, a very odd dream and have...it’s helped me understand a few things I think.”

“Things?” Izuna frowned, “What kind of things? Does it have to do with this morning? The council still wants to meet, I was coming to look for you when I saw you fall.”

Madara looked up into the anxious face of the only brother he had left. The only brother out of four that was still by his side. “Our war with the Senju is over.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Izuna glared down at him.

“It is as I said. The Senju and Uchiha conflict is over as of right now.” Madara closed his eyes again, visions of blood disappeared behind his eyes to be replaced with summer and grass as green as that woman’s eyes. He breathed in deeply, the tightness of his chest relaxing. “We will go later and speak with Hashirama and his brother directly. You will accompany me...peacefully.”

Izuna grit his teeth and clenched his fists over his knees as he continued to kneel beside his brother’s bed. He didn’t understand why Madara was giving up, giving in and, and…

Madara could feel his brother trembling with anger and confusion. “Izuna. I don’t want to lose you. A woman, I met a woman today who...gave me a small glimpse into the future.” Madara closed his eyes, saw Sakura sitting beside the man who looked like him, saw the adoration in her eyes when she looked at that Madara. He wanted that. He wanted her to look at him that way.

He opened his eyes to look at Izuna. “I want that future.”

“Madara.” Izuna unclenched his fists. It had been a long time since he had seen his brother so calm, so...he was smiling. Madara was smiling. Izuna couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brother smile. He sighed. “Fine, tell me what happened, tell me why you’ve changed your mind all of a sudden. I’ll listen.”

Madara smiled at his brother and began to tell him about the most beautiful woman he had ever seen who could cause a wall of sand to fly up into the air using only her fists.

Madara watched Sakura separate the flowers she had picked into three different piles, her long beautiful hair falling over her shoulders getting in her way. He smiled as she huffed in annoyance, twisted her hair up into a knot and shoved it into the back of her shirt.

He laughed to himself as she tsked angrily as it fell back over her shoulders getting in her way once more.

“Drat this ridiculous hair.” She scowled, pulling a kunai from her pouch, gathering her hair up behind her head and slicing it off before Madara could protest.

He frowned as pink strands fell around her, he had liked her long hair. “Sakura love.”

“What?” Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha, daring him to say something, making him blink.

“Your hair love.” He nodded to her shorn locks that were growing back before his eyes.

“What the hell?” Sakura’s fingers clutched at her rapidly growing hair. “How is it…”

“How unexpected.” Madara watched Sakura pull her kunai from her pouch again, cut through her hair again...and watched with Sakura as the hair grew back, long once again before their eyes.

“Why is it, what is happening?” Sakura looked down at the cut hair in her hands to the long hair falling over her shoulders down the front of her chest. “Why won’t it remain cut?” She looked up at Madara bewildered.

Madara shrugged. “I like it long.” Was all he said.

“...but.” Sakura didn’t understand, what a pointless thing, to be so significant.

“Everything has meaning, so does this, we just don’t know what it is, yet.” Madara took the kunai from Sakura’s hand and pulled her to him. Leaning over he kissed her gently. “I think it’s time we paid a visit to my old friend, now that we’ve spoken to...myself. I’d like you to come with me, if you will?”

“Oh, are you sure? You wouldn’t wish to speak to Hashirama alone, I mean, in the beginning?” She was a little more than nervous to meet the Lord First, even if she had already met the Lord Second.

“I think it is important we call on him together. Your place by my side will not be challenged this way. You’ve already met Tobirama, and from what you told me...have already made quite an impression on him. It would be wise to start our new relationship as we intend to move forward. You’ll find less respect and more resistance from the male shinobi Sakura. Not all of them are wise enough or willing to accept your status as an equal...like I have, like Tobirama seems to have.” He pointed out.

“Will...the Lord First…” She began.

Madara smiled at her. One moment she was so sure and confident in her abilities, the next...a mouse. “He will see you for what you are.”

Sakura raised a brow at him to continue with a more detailed explanation.

“A kunoichi and a Hokage.” He grinned at her, wrapping his arms around her and laying her down on the ground beneath him. “...and mine.”

“Possessive today aren’t we?” Sakura giggled as he kissed light kisses down the side of her cheek and neck.

“Today, and everyday here after.” Madara nipped her sharply under her chin making her squirm. “I don’t share love.”

“Even with yourself?” She teased him.

Sakura yelped as he gripped her hips forcefully. “No.”

“I saw the way he looked at you.” He began untying his shirt, then hers. “I’ll warn you again to be careful of the man, he already sees you as his, because you are mine. I know it.”

Madara pushed her pants down with one hand, then his own, kicking them off to the side. Picking her bottom up off the ground he entered her roughly. “Ungh.”

Sakura moved against him, her fingers slithering through his spiky hair, pulling on the ends. “You.” She murmured into his chest as he rose up over her spreading her legs apart so he could enter her more deeply. “Are enough.”

Madara looked down at the woman under his care and smiled. Perfect, she was so perfect. 

“Good.” He rocked back onto his legs, his arms around her waist pulling her with him, to sit over him as he moved her over top of their joined hips. “I wouldn’t like to think you found my past self more attractive.”

Through the pleasure Sakura felt a tiny pin prick of warning. Was he...jealous of himself she wondered briefly. Madara lifted her up laying back down on the soft grass kissing her softly behind the ear, pushing into her again.

“Do you find him attractive, Sakura?” He asked her, his eyes bleeding red to read her reaction.

“He is you but…” Sakura breathed out then in again quickly as Madara’s hand dropped down between their bodies to rub her oversensitive aching just above his cock. “...different. Harsher, less refined.” She gasped out as he twisted his finger into her alongside his cock, pressing down with his thumb.

“Madara.” She moaned, opened mouthed against his chest as he bent her backward, arching her back with his other hand.

“You’re not curious love, to see if we’re different in bed, to see if he can make you feel like this?” He pulled his finger from her rocking back against her hard.

Sakura shook her head back and forth biting her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Only I can make you feel like this love. Me.” Madara lifted her up, pressing himself into her deeper and deeper until she cried out for him. “Come for me, feel me deep inside you, only me, say it Sakura, say it for me love.”

“You.” Sakura breathed out, her fingers clutching at his back, her nails cutting into his skin. “Just you Madara.”

“Just me.” He released inside of her in an explosion of lust, love and life. “Just me.”

“Mine.” he rolled off of her, pulling her over his chest, holding her to him with both hands firmly clutching her sweat slicked back. “You belong to me.”

“You.” Sakura hummed against his chest, her eyes closed as she melted into him. “Madara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started an Assasination Classroom fic, so updates on this one will be less, but not abandoned:)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted chapter 15 before chapter 14 by accident. Might want to refresh or double check to make sure it's in order.

Hashirama couldn’t stop smiling. It was a dream come true, his best friend from his childhood was sitting across the table from him, in his home, in the Senju compound at long last. How many times had he hoped for this moment since they were two awkward teens by the Naka River skipping rocks. It was almost too good to be true, this peace, this new found joy. He nearly hugged himself in his happiness.

“Madara, my old friend.” Hashirama was almost crying. “It’s so good to see you.” Hashirama beamed across the table at Madara who smiled blandly at his friend.

“It is good to be here Hashirama.” There was more he wished to say but...he couldn’t. Not in front of Tobirama, perhaps not even in front of Sakura, so he said little.

“I still can’t believe it.” Hashirama grinned at his friend. “I can’t believe such a beautiful woman would choose to be with you Madara! You must be overjoyed she chose you!” Hashirama chuckled out loud pointing at Sakura who blinked in surprise, to Madara who glared at him openly.

“Are they together? She still hasn’t given her clan name.” Tobirama gave Sakura the same calculating eye he had been giving her since their arrival an hour ago.

“What does my clan name have to do with our relationship?” Sakura asked Tobirama before Madara could speak.

Madara cleared his throat.

“We are.” Madara looked at the younger Senju with barely suppressed annoyance. Was the man trying to irk him or was it just his nature. Madara, unlike Tobirama, had a bit more experience and knowledge about their interactions, due to the fact he had a past with the man, that this man before him, lacked.

Tobirama ignored Madara and continued to look at Sakura to elaborate.

“We are. It is new but...it’s going well.” Sakura smiled at Madara who calmed himself a bit at her admission and confirmation. “Isn’t it?” She ignored Tobirama’s skeptical expression.

“Hn.” Madara patted Sakura’s hand under the cover of the low table.

Hashirama’s eyes sparkled. Never did he think he would witness such tenderness from his friend, such gentleness! “What happy news! When is the wedding ceremony!”

“Wedding ceremony!” Sakura choked on her tea. “We’re not getting married!”

“Soon.” Madara answered, avoiding Sakura’s narrowed eye.

An awkward silence filled the room.

“Oh! Um, of course.” Hashirama looked at Madara, then the floor quickly. Interesting…

“Not getting married?” Tobirama scowled at the woman. “You just admitted you were...together, have you no shame?” He cocked his head to the side. “Or does together mean something else where you come from, because I know you are not from here, no one in the Fire country speaks like you do. Dresses like you do.”

Sakura smoothed down her jounin blues and tugged at the end of her green flak jacket with pride. She wasn’t offended by his statement. She was a kunoichi of Konoha, the Sixth Hokage.

Madara cleared his throat to speak, but Sakura stopped him with a hand.

“We are newly...acquainted. Where I’m from a couple takes time to get to know one another before marriage, to make sure they are compatible first.” Sakura’s voice was clear, calm and firm. “Women may choose whom they marry...where I am from. As well as when they marry.” She lowered her voice just a tad...in warning.

Tobirama ignored the choking noises that his brother was making and stared at the woman with a perceptive eye. Like before when he had met her in the desert borders, she was direct, confident and articulate. She didn’t cower or avert her eyes in the presence of men, strong men...like she was...used to being in charge or standing beside strong men as an…”Equal.”

“You consider yourself an equal don’t you, to us.” Tobirama’s voice wasn’t condescending but surprised with a hint of admiration to it. 

“You’re not intimidated by our chakra signatures, our strength. We’ve not masked our chakra, yet you sit there, relaxed, you’re...used to it aren’t you.” An understanding of this woman was dawning on him with clarity. He wondered where she came from and if there were more women like her there, they would make formidable allies.

Madara watched the younger Senju dissect Sakura’s behavior. It was entertaining to see someone come to the same conclusion he had when they had first met.

“I am.” Sakura inclined her head graciously to the Senju. “I am your equal, Senju San.”

Quick in memory Tobirama countered. “When we met before, you called me Sama.”

“A political overture I assure you.” Sakura smiled sweetly. “You thought to assist me, you deserved my respect.”

“Not now though? In my own home?” Tobirama was enjoying himself. Rare was it that he found a worthy verbal partner. Hashirama tended to babble and lose his train of thought. This was, refreshing. Tobirama’s mouth twitched a twitch that was not lost on the Uchiha.

“Tobirama San, say what you mean without implication. Or do I intimidate you?” Sakura challenged the white haired Senju before her.

Tobirama smiled, a genuine smile and inclined his head to the woman in warranted respect. “You do not intimidate me Sakura San, in fact, it is quite the opposite.”

Madara narrowed his eyes at the Senju.

Hashirama burst out laughing and slapped his palms against the wood of the table delighted. “Madara! I see why you like her so much! Beauty and wit delivered with a sharp tongue! Enchanting my friend!”

Sakura blushed prettily.

“Enchanting.” Tobirama surprised everyone at the table by inclining his head respectfully to Sakura and smiling, again. “I look forward to the many challenging conversations, that I’m sure are to come.”

Madara shifted in his seat catching the other man’s eye.

“Unless, someone has issue with that?” Tobirama gave Madara a direct look.

“I have no issue with that, and since the conversations will be ours, I see no need for another’s opinion.” Sakura looked at Madara, then Tobirama.

Hashirama’s mouth dropped open. This woman was telling Madara to...be quiet and he...was.

Madara smirked at the room's reaction. “As you wish my dear. I’m not threatened by him.” Madara jerked his hand in Tobirama’s direction.

“There is only one who is my equal.” He gave her a warning look.

Sakura laughed. “Then there is nothing to worry about. I look forward to conversing with you, Tobirama San.”

Earlier, on their way to the Senju compound Madara had stopped her to take her in his arms and tell her she need not worry, that there was nothing to be nervous about when she hadn’t ceased her fidgeting since they had left his sanctuary.

She had felt foolish, and had tried to explain her apprehension to him.

“It’s the Lord First and the Lord Second, these men are...legends in my time, like you. Do you not understand the fear and the admiration, the awe they, you all inspired in the generations that came after you?” She had blurted out. “It’s like...it’s a feeling I can’t even explain.” She tried to explain.

“I still can’t believe it when you kiss me, when you touch me and say things to me that...it’s a bit surreal Madara. You have to understand, I never thought anyone...much less you would, would ever look at me the way you do, touch me like you...like you do.” She had looked up at him in a near panic.

“Did you not see the other kages Madara, when we saw that it was you, really you on the battlefield?” She asked him. “The fear that gripped our hearts...and when you moved...kami you were so fast we never...stood a chance against you, kages!”

Madara had wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Yes, kages. You’re the Hokage Sakura, the Sixth. Hashirama and Tobirama Senju may have been the First and the Second, but you are the Sixth Hokage of the village we made together, for peace. Do not forget who you are.”

“I am a legend.” He admitted. “...but I am also, a man.”

“Your man.” He lifted her chin up so she could see the truth in his dark eyes. “Come Hokage, let us meet your predecessors, they already know we’re here, I can feel their tension in the air.”

Sakura had spent the rest of their short walk thinking over his words. He was right. She was the Hokage, just like Hashirama had been, just like Tobirama had been...just like Tsunade, her mentor had been. She knew what it meant to be strong when you felt weak and this was no different.

“Thank you Madara.” She had told him as the guards at the gate looked down at them with curiosity and thinly veiled suspicion.

“Hn.” He had replied as the gates to the Senju compound opened, and Hashirama and Tobirama Senju stepped out to meet them.

Sakura met Tobirama’s gaze without blinking, nodded her head acknowledging his interest in her, and picked up her cup of tea, sipping lightly. This was a new world she told herself, like war...she had to stay alert, strong and vigilant. Her eyes flickered to Hashirama who was looking at her with a more down to earth fixed expression on his kind face. Gone was the foolish grin, replaced with something more serious and ponderous.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sakura San.” Hashirama said rather formally, inclining his head. “Please, tell us a little about yourself if you will.”

Sakura smiled and set down her teacup giving the Lord First her full attention. So, it was time for the serious conversation was it? Fine, might as well get this over with then.

“I am pleased to be here, Hashirama San. My name is Haruno Sakura, the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure, the village of your and Madara’s childhood dream.” Sakura looked at Madara who nodded. “Allow me to tell you a story, Senju San, about blood and death, love and hate, and a war that happened as a result in a time...far away from this one, yet not far enough.”

Tobirama and Hashirama cast one another a look of interest.

“Please continue Sakura San, I believe you have our full attention.” Hashirama smiled at Sakura pleasantly.

...but before Sakura could begin her tale, there was a knock and the sliding of a door to her right.

“Hashirama Sama. Madara Uchiha and his brother Izuna Uchiha are at the front gate, they request an audience with you and Tobirama Sama.” A guard said in a low and measured tone, not daring to lift his eyes to the room.

Tobirama looked from Sakura to the Madara in front of him. There was no surprise on their faces, their intent hadn’t even wavered. The only tell tale sign that they had heard the guard was the slightest jump in the woman’s pulse, visible at the base of her slender neck.

“Madara?” Hashirama’s eye went wide as he looked at his friend, his earlier fancy crashing down around him. “Is that the difference?”

“You always were more clever than you looked, than you wanted those around you to believe you were. Have I ever told you how incredibly annoying that was Hashirama?” Madara asked the man.

“Was.” Tobirama looked at the Madara in front of him. “You’re...that’s impossible. The slight differences aren’t enough to account for something so ridiculous as…”

“The sensor that you are Tobirama, surely you felt their approach as keenly as we did?” Madara took the opportunity to cut the man down.

“Impatient as ever I see.” Sakura muttered under her breath as the door slid open once more to reveal Madara Uchiha and his brother Izuna Uchiha.

“It is to be expected. I came all this way to see my old friend after all. It’s rude to keep people waiting, isn’t it?” Madara smiled at himself...his eyes lighting on Izuna whose eyes were wide and staring back at him. “Izuna, it is...good to see you alive and well again.”

“Alive and well again?” Tobirama questioned.

Sakura had just enough time to jump back and raise her chakra infused arms up over her head before all hell broke loose.

“Shit.” She rolled onto her side then jumped up onto her feet.

“Nice to see you again love.” Other Madara, distinguished by his dress, grabbed her around the waist and threw her up into the air. Izuna’s sword came down where her leg had been a second later.

“What the hell is happening, who attacked first and why?” Sakura called down to the other Madara as she flipped through the air sticking to the side of the wall with chakra infused feet.

“Izuna and Tobirama San have never gotten along I’m afraid, a bit of post war animosity if you will.” Madara called out to her, his sword trapping his younger brother effectively against the wall putting an end to the chaos.

“Bastard!” A man who looked like a long haired Sasuke spat out from under his brother’s arm. “I still owe you for my leg you son of a…”

“I can see the resemblance.” Sakura laughed out loud causing Izuna to turn his head toward her instead of finishing his insult. “He sounds just like you when he yells at people Madara.” She eye crinkled at the Madara holding Izuna back from Tobirama.

“Shut your mouth bitch.” Izuna growled out at Sakura.

Before Sakura could step forward, breaking the other Madara’s second hold around her waist, Madara smacked Izuna over the head with the back of his hand.

“You will speak to Sakura with respect, Izuna for she has mine.” Madara looked around the room at the faces of the other men present. “In fact, I believe she had earned all of our collective respect in one form or another.”

Tobirama glared at the younger Uchiha, his arms crossed over his chest. He had never liked Izuna and Izuna had never liked him. Their war may be over but some wounds cut too deep. They didn’t have that friendship, that bond that their brother’s had to fall back onto, to reminisce over and establish that bond.

All they had ever had for one another...was hatred.

Izuna grit his teeth, the red of his eyes fading back to black as he looked at the woman, really looked at her. “You’re the woman my brother told me about?” His voice lightened making him sound younger.

Izuna’s eyes flickered to his brother, then the man that looked like his brother. “...and you’re the...the...other one huh?”

“The other one, yes I suppose you could call me that.” Madara looked at his younger brother with blank eyes. Sakura could only imagine what he was feeling right now. It was clear to her he was trying to contain himself, holding himself back. She was sure the other Madara could see it too, and if he could see it, surely Izuna could see it as well.

She pulled herself from the Other Madara’s grip and walked over to her lover. “Come, let’s sit. I was just about to tell a story. Now that everyone has arrived, perhaps I could continue?” 

Sakura looked to Hashirama, then Tobirama. Her eyes passed over Izuna to fall on the other man with dark spiky black hair and smiled. “If everyone is ready?”

The other Madara rubbed at his arm, would the tingling never cease? Aggravated her dropped down onto the nearest cushion, the one beside Hashirama.

“I’ll, call for more tea.” Tobirama bowed to Sakura in a low jerking fashion and left the room quickly.

“Come Madara.” Sakura pulled on her Madara’s arm gently, guiding him to his cushion with a small hand to his back. “Sit.”

Izuna watched the small woman guide the man who looked just like his brother to his seat, he watched how his brother watched the woman and wondered...how this was all possible.

Tobirama entered the room once again, a large tea tray in his hands and started setting the tea service on the table with cold precision and an emotionless eye. He wasn’t the only one to find this situation...bizzare and for some reason, knowing that helped relax him.

Izuna slumped down into a cushion, the cushion farthest from the white haired bastard, the cushion beside the woman named Sakura. The woman smiled kindly at him, making him flush. He had acted foolishly, disrupted their tea and...who the fuck cared! Why were they even here?

...and yet, as the woman folded her legs crosswise over her cushion and picked up her cup of tea, he found himself wondering more about who she was, rather than why they were sitting in the Senju compound drinking tea, with a man who was...as his brother claimed, Madara from the future.

After everyone had settled Sakura looked around the room. “Where should I begin.” She tapped a nail against her pursed lips in thought. “I know…” She laughed lightly and the sound of silver bells filled the room.

Each man smiled in his own way, some visibly like Hashirama’s wide grin, some more subtly , like Madara’s, and some in their own heads, like Tobirama and Izuna as Sakura began her tale.

“I come from a place called Konohagakure, in a time of nearly unprecedented peace and prosperity.” She began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started a My Hero Academia fic too, so uh, updates will be whenever, but leaving you with three chapters for a day so that should help cushion any disappointment? eh? lol ~
> 
> ...assuming you are in fact disappointed haha


	16. Chapter 16

Zetsu slinked along the outskirts of the forest behind the Senju compound. He had followed her and her companion to the compound and waited outside, wondering how he should approach her. 

When they had first arrived...here, he had wrung his hands, paced and procrastinated over her form, confused and conflicted...only to lose her to the Hyugas. Berating himself, he had followed her. She wasn’t Kaguya for kami’s sake, she was...was...her daughter reincarnated…

In the absence of Black Zetsu, White Zetsu found that he...didn’t mind the woman as much.

He had watched over her at the Hyugas’, followed her into the desert to the Uchiha’s sanctuary, witnessed her interaction with the younger Senju, had listened to her conversations with the Uchiha his mother had forced him to bring with them and saw the small similarities. The little things that he knew she had inherited from their mother, from Kaguya.

It comforted him to see those qualities in her. It made it hard for him to hate her. He was still jealous but...hate her...he wasn’t sure.

He knew Kaguya wasn’t his mother, he was her will. He liked the idea of having a mother. He liked the idea of having a sister, a little.. He had never belonged to the Akatsuki, he had always belonged to Kaguya. Now that Kaguya was no more, he belonged to Sakura.

Black Zetsu would disagree, but Kaguya had told them to watch over Sakura, to guide her, to help her...if they loved their mother...what else was left for them to do but to love Sakura as well.

It was a novel thought to him. He had fought against her several times already, both during the war, and before. Seeing her in a different light, from a different view point, he would admit she was attractive. Even more so with her long hair, since it made her look more like their mother, even if the color was different.

He sighed, wondering what his other half was doing. Sometimes he envied Black Zetsu’s arrogance, but most of the time, he just tolerated him. He was his, better half...wasn’t he?

Yellow eyes passed through the trees outlining the compound. What was the best way...he couldn’t approach her with the Uchiha, but the man hardly ever left her side.

She would try to resist his help...to her, he was still the enemy. Mother had never been good at conversation...explaining things in words. He doubted he would fare any better trying to...explain his intent.

There had been an opportunity in the desert, when the Uchiha had left her to seek out his brother but Zetsu had lost his nerve when she had tilted her head back to look up at the sky. The peaceful look in her eyes, the wonderment restrained and the complacent reserve was so like his mother’s that he...had hardly been able to tear his eyes from the woman. Until the younger Senju had shown up.

Zetsu sneered. 

That man...the one history liked to call Lord Second. Zetsu had seen the way the man looked at the woman, at Sakura. Just like the Uchiha did, only much more subtly. The nerve. Zetsu bristled at the thought, his glowing yellow eyes going dark. She was the daughter of Kaguya Otsutsuki, not some mere offspring of a second son, like Tobirama was, like Madara was.

Indra and Asura, Zetsu scoffed, the two men, the blood traitors that had sealed his mother away! Zetsu’s nails dug into the tree he leaned against. Sakura hadn’t betrayed their mother, no...but those two, the reincarnations of her two traitorous sons Hamura and Hagoromo...they didn’t deserve to touch Sakura, they were below her.

Zetsu was certain she would cast them off once she knew, once she understood her leiniage. He would show her, everything.

It was time she understood where she came from. Zetsu sunk into the ground to wait for the woman. It was time she understood that she was wasting her time with these men, that they were beneath her.

Kaguya had instructed him to show Sakura how to manage and control her power, to look after her and guide her. He would, in the only way he knew how, but first...he would have to speak to her. 

First, he would have to...get inside her head where no one else could hear him, sense him. ‘Yes’, he cooed to himself that was it, that was how he would reach her, in her dreams, in her subconscious... The same way mother had given birth to him, had made him into what he was today, her will. 

He would show her everything, from her past, those men’s past and about the struggle her mother went through...for her happiness.

He, Zetsu...would not fail his mother again, would not fail Sakura. 

Sakura sat, her legs folded up under her, and watched the men’s faces around the table as they talked over her words. She had presented it like a story, a tale of courage and woe, of heroes and villains, but everything she had told them had been the truth and she was glad to see the reflection of both fear and understanding in their eyes.

Other Madara hadn’t taken his eyes off of her since she began to speak, only now when she had finished speaking did he look down at his hands which were folded on the table in front of him. Sakura wondered how he felt, for surely he had read the stone tablet at least once now, she knew he wouldn’t leave to walk the path of revenge until after Konoha had been built but she doubted he had waited until after the village was made to read his clan’s sacred tablet. He would know now, that he hadn’t understood it, even before his mangekyo allowed him to read it in assumed completion...it had been false.

Sakura surmised he had read it as soon as he could, as soon as he became the Uchiha clan head. History said he would turn to it after the village had been built, after his clan started to turn against him to fuel his need for revenge upon Hashirama.

He would know, because of them, because...they had been brought here by that woman, that…

Why, Sakura frowned silently as the men continued to talk. Why had they been brought here and had it really been the Rabbit goddess who had brought them? There hadn’t been much time to think about the state of their progress, until now. 

Green eyes passed over the men to rest upon Izuna, he too had watched her while she spoke, first with cold accusatory eyes, then in disbelief...turned to shock at the mention of his death and how it had pushed his brother over the edge into madness as she referred to Madara’s depressed inhumanity. Sakura wondered what the man must be feeling, hearing how his brother loved him so much, missed him so greatly that he fell into despair at his passing, turning to cold hearted ruthlessness, seeking comfort in oblivion.

“I don’t believe you.” Izuna spoke directly to Sakura, loudly, for the rest of the table to hear.

Sakura sighed, his looks weren’t the only thing that reminded her of Sasuke.

“Which part?” She asked him patiently.

“There's no way he…” Izuna thumbed his fist at Tobirama. “...could kill me.”

Tobirama glared at the Uchiha, his eyes settling on Sakura. The two Madara’s and Hashirama were also watching, waiting for the small woman to reply.

“It is my understanding that the two of you are very evenly matched in skill, however that has changed. Recently.” Her eyes fell on Tobirama. “Tobirama San has invented a new jutsu. It is this jutsu, that ultimately gives him the edge to defeat you...and kill you.”

Tobirama met Sakura’s green glance with suspicious red eyes. “You know.”

It wasn’t a question, more like...verification. Sakura nodded.

“Flying thunder kami technique.” She said quietly.

“Ah…” Tobirama almost smiled. “A good name.”

“An impressive jutsu, barely surpassable by the future generations, two will come close, two will be considered your equal in speed.” Sakura smiled thinking of Shisui the Teleporter and Minato Namikaze. “An Uchiha and the Lord Fourth, also, legends of their own time.”

“Lord Fourth.” Hashirama scratched his chin. “Hokages, but you said...you are the Sixth Hokage of this Konoha, this village we will make?”

“I am.” Sakura looked at her Madara. “I will lead our village and our neighbours into war against him.” Sakura nodded to Madara beside her and to the Madara sitting across from her beside Hashirama.

“The fourth great shinobi war, led by my childhood friend Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage, Supreme General of the Allied Shinobi Forces.” She added with a small pained smile recalling her shy, silent companion the Kazekage.

“You’re here though. You said that this Kaguya, the Rabbit goddess sent you here somehow?” Tobirama asked, ignoring the small growling noises coming from Izuna Uchiha. “You sit here, at this table, with an enemy. You smile at him, touch him and…”

“...so do you.” Sakura raised her head to meet Tobirama’s eyes. “We have spent the last month getting to know one another as people, not enemies.” Sakura smiled at Madara. “Circumstances...changed. As have yours. Izuna is still alive. You sit here at the same table as I do. What have you to say of that Tobirama San?”

Tobirama remained quiet, his red eyes narrowing, not in suspicion or complaint but with the need to understand. This woman...was unlike any person he had ever met, man or woman. It both bothered him to be in her presence and drew him to her at the same time.

Izuna sneered again at the Senju. “I don’t think that…”

Madara interrupted his younger brother. “There is no point arguing who is better but the fact is Izuna, that Tobirama San did defeat you, using a new jutsu, one no one knew of...one not even I would have expected. There is no shame in being beaten by a worthy foe.”

Tobirama shifted in his seat. Wise words coming from a man he had once thought...impulsive.

“My point was, Izuna San, you are alive. The fuel that ignited Madara’s hatred will never exist here.” Sakura pushed her hair back from her face. “My friends...won’t die, because Madara won’t declare war in the future...or have Obito declare it for him.” She clarified.

“A lot to take in.” Hashirama cast a shrewd look around the table. “I’m sure we will have many more questions for you, as they come to us.” Hashirama watched Sakura shift in her seat, watched her eyes hold Madara’s...smiled to himself at the look of warmth and understanding in his old friend’s eyes as he looked back at the woman...and watched with apprehension at the other Madara, who was watching the woman with a much more controlled expression on his face. Hashirama knew that look. His friend was plotting.

“You were the Sixth Hokage...but you’re a woman.” Izuna accused Sakura, brining Hshirama out of his thoughts.

“I was and I am.” Sakura pursed her lips in amusement. “So was the fifth Hokage, my mentor and friend, Tsunade Senju.”

“Senju?” Hashirama smiled at this news.

“Your granddaughter.” Sakura smiled at the man.

“Grand daughter?” Tobirama looked from Sakura to Hashirama. “Who does he marry?”

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, then paused. “Perhaps it would be best to let those things unravel as they will.”

“Yeah. I already know more than I wanted to know.” Izuna scowled at Sakura openly who could only look back at him in amusement. “What?” He nearly barked at her.

“History said very little about you, most likely because you died before the village was founded. You’re nothing like I imagined though.” Sakura replied contemplatively.

“Oh?” Izuna’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Pray tell, how did you imagine me...Sixth Hokage?” He practically sneered at her.

“More mature for starters, less bratty.” Sakura smiled back at him.

Izuna’s mouth dropped open. He had never been spoken to in such a manner, with such...bluntness before, especially not by a woman. He wasn’t sure how to react, so he remained silent...for now. His eyes narrowed at the other men at the table.

Tobirama stifled a snicker while Madara and Hashirama laughed out loud openly. Other Madara simply watched the green eyed, pink haired woman with renewed interest.

“Not afraid to speak your mind in a man’s presence I see.” Other Madara commented.

“Should I be?” Sakura lifted her chin to his challenge, his taunt.

“That…” He paused. “Remains to be seen.” Dark eyes met the identical dark eyes of the Madara sitting beside Sakura, his Sakura, in a silent challenge, but it was Sakura who spoke.

“I accept your challenge Madara San.” Sakura inclined her head respectfully, her tone putting significant emphasis on the word ‘I’.

“I look forward to it, love.” Other Madara all but purred at her, making her Madara narrow his eyes at the man, while Izuna raised a brow at his brother.

‘So it’s like that is it’, Izuna hummed quietly to himself.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura and Madara walked side by side, back toward the desert together. She looked at him through the corners of her eyes as they walked in a leisurely, unhurried manner toward his ‘Lost paradise’. His mood had darkened after she had accepted the other Madara’s verbal challenge and she wondered...how far he would take this...competition. 

Surely he must know she saw the differences in them and that he was the one she was attracted to.

The Madara they had left at the Senju compound, was not the Madara she had gotten to know, was not the Madara she had grown close to. Physically, of course she was attracted to the other Madara, but looks aren't everything. She had grown out of that childish flaw long ago.

While his subtle jealousy was a tad annoying it was also honest. He cared for her. Actions spoke louder than words. He hadn’t brought it up, so she wouldn’t either. She had learned several things over the past few years, about herself, and about diplomacy.

Conversationally she excelled. Gaara had often told her that he envied her ability to speak to anyone, anywhere and she had reciprocated...telling him she envied him and his ability to watch, listen and read others thoughts and emotions.

She remembered his small smile at her words, and smiled at the memory.

‘Old habit’, he had shrugged. ‘Born from years of not being able to express myself verbally without shedding blood’, he had explained. ‘It does help, however, with diplomacy’.

Diplomacy. Sakura tilted her head back to look at the tall trees as they walked by, their long branches springing new growth. There would be a need for plenty of diplomacy in their futures.

Madara’s shoulders slumped, then straightened. Sakura noticed the gesture, apparently he had also been thinking and had come to his own conclusions.

“I think it would be best if we took a freehold.” Madara broke the silence between them. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to reside with the Senju and of course, we can not reside with the Uchiha for obvious reasons.”

After some more guarded...albeit witty small talk the little group had decided not to tell the Uchiha clan about an additional Madara Uchiha among them. The reason being the obvious, panic and suspicion would spread like wildfire throughout not only Fire Country but beyond.

They had come to an agreement of sorts, never to be in the same place at the same time, until another solution could present itself.

“Well, where are you living, where will you...you know?” Izuna had waved a hand at Sakura. “You can’t expect a woman to camp out indefinitely in the woods, Hokage or not.” His tone was indignant. He blushed as Sakura blinked at him in surprise. Surprised at his...consideration for her convenience, her comfort.

“We have a place, temporarily.” Madara had told his younger brother, meeting the eyes of the other Madara carefully. “Perhaps a freehold would be in order, something to consider.” He had looked at Sakura who had nodded in silent agreement. They would discuss this in private. Later.

Well, it was later and clearly Madara had been thinking about their living arrangement. Before he could tell her his plan, she spoke.

“We both know Konoha will be built, sooner now I would assume since our arrival and...reveal.” Sakura looked up to meet his eyes as he looked down at her. “There is a place I have always...admired but...was never able to remodel in my own time, what with mad Uchiha declaring war and trying to take over the world.” She smiled at him.

Madara gave her an amused look. “Yes?” He prompted her to continue, ignoring the small jibe.

“The water spill, beside the cliffs that will line the southernmost wall of the village.” She blushed. “I always thought, since I was a girl, how romantic it would be to have a little house there, that sat beside the falls, against the cliff, a garden on the side...just big enough for...two.” She smiled, her cheeks tinting pink.

“The Hokage mansion never felt like home to me after Tsunade died.” She continued in a more subdued voice. “I used to think it was because I missed her, because I didn’t think I was fit to be Hokage but now I think, it’s because I was...lonely.” 

Madara watched her mouth as she spoke. He could see the strain in the corners of her lips, the tightness in her jaw. This, he thought to himself, is the real Sakura. The woman behind the power, behind the laughter. 

While Sakura was a very expressive person, her emotions, aside from their first joining, had always seemed guarded, superficial to an extent as though she were keeping him at a predetermined emotional distance to protect herself but this...he was pleased. She was starting to really...sincerely trust him.

He was a fool, he scolded himself, to have been so jealous. He was ashamed yet again in her presence. She was humbling, just as he had told his other self. He felt humbled now, in her sincerity, in her...trust.

“Show me.” His hand reached out for hers.

She smiled. “Okay.”

The tension, the fear and strain from the last few days drained from their minds as they walked toward the cliffs of what would soon be Konoha, their Konoha.

“It feels strange being here.” Sakura stood at the base of the cliffs behind what would be the backing of the Hokage Tower, and looked up the cliffside, a familiar sight. “To see what it looked like before it was built, before my time. To feel it.” Sakura placed her hands on the coarse rocky cliff wall and closed her eyes, sending her chakra out into the dense cold rock.

“What?” She jerked back. A pair of intense yellow eyes had filled her head. “What was…”

Madara placed his hands on the rock like she had but felt nothing. Turning to her he noticed the color fading from her cheeks, she looked...unwell. “Sakura, what is it love, did you sense something?”

“I…” Sakura removed her hands from the rocky surface, letting them fall down at her sides. “I must have imagined it.” She shook her head to clear the yellow eyes from behind her green ones.

There was a murmuring in her head, like fuzzy static, making her frown. How strange she mused. Looking back up at Madara she tried to smile, reassuringly. 

“It’s nothing, come on.” She took his hand and pressed chakra to her feet walking a little ways up the cliff. “There’s a cave here, I thought it would make a nice start for our new home.”

They hadn’t discussed it. They had never said they would live together, but neither of them balked at the idea, neither corrected the other’s plans. It seemed they had both just assumed...they would stay together.

Madara recalled how she had sputtered and protested at the idea of marriage, but saw none of that surprise or hesitation now. She led him up the cliffside and around a small natural ledge to a small cave beside the falling water.

“Here.” She turned to him. “My friend Ino and I used to draw pictures of what a house built into the cliffside would look like when we were kids. We found this cave after we learned how to use our chakra to walk up trees and on water. Ino didn’t like the idea of living in a half stone, half wood house but I thought it was really cool.” Sakura blushed.

“I imagined sitting outside on this ledge, in a chair or on a bench, listening to the water drop down the side of the cliff, looking at the stars at night and just...being at peace.” She smiled up at him, her eyes shining.

“I will make it so. You mentioned a garden. There is no room for a garden on the side of a cliff.” He motioned to the receding stone around them.

“Follow me.” She pulled on his hand again leading him into the cave.

It was a small cave, he understood now what she meant by half a house in the cliffside, there wasn’t enough room for more than half. Madara followed her around a small bend, the earth sloping down. “Ah, I see.”

They had come to the bottom of the cliff, beside the river. “It’s beautiful Sakura. A good spot.”

It reminded him of his lost paradise. He wouldn’t have been able to pick a better spot. “We will make our home here. As you wish.”

Sakura smiled, pleased that he seemed to like her choice of location as much as she did.

“What was this used for in your time, in mine, it wasn’t used for anything. In fact, I was unaware this cozy little spot existed.” He told her.

Sakura’s face fell. “It was a horrible place in my time. It was forbidden, blocked off from the rest of the village, sealed by the fourth Hokage.”

“Sealed?” Madara turned back around to look into the narrow stone corridor they had just exited. “Was it caved in?” He asked her.

“No, it was forbidden because a shinobi named Orochimaru used it for...human experimentation.” She grimaced. “It was years before anyone found out what he was doing, years of suffering and pain before...the Lord Third did anything about it but...even then, the Lord Third couldn’t find it in his heart to kill him, his former student.”

Sakura tried to explain Orochimaru, the Lord Third and what had happened. She told him about the three legendary Sannin and her shisou’s role in the development of medical jutsu.

“So he was weak, this Lord Third and your mentor, instead of dealing with the issue ran away from the village.” Madara crossed his arms over his chest and scowled in disgust.

“It’s not so cut and dry Madara.” Sakura didn’t like the way he was speaking of Tsunade. “Tsunade Sama lost the man she loved, was traumatized by the war she had been in and…”

“Yet you are the same age as she was at that time, and instead of running away, you ran at me, fists held firm, chakra flowing through your veins and did you best to pound me into oblivion did you not?” He pushed his point.

“It’s different.” Sakura insisted.

“It’s not Sakura.” His voice remained hard. “She was a coward, whereas you, are not.”

“Naruto brought her back, she saved us, she fought for us. She taught me everything I know.” Sakura growled out in her shisou’s defense.

“Yes, the nine tailed vessel.” Madara scratched the bottom of his chin in contemplation. “Obito mentioned his...tenacious personality.”

Sakura laughed, forgetting her annoyance. “Yeah. Tenacious, that’s Naruto. He never gives up. If he believes in you...he never stops trying to, to make you see in yourself what he sees in you. He makes you want to believe so much that eventually...you do.” She laughed again thinking of her dopey blonde haired friend.

“I miss him.” She looked down at her fingers that clutched the hem of her jounin blues. “I hope he...isn’t looking for me, right now, because...he’ll never give up, he’ll keep looking and looking.”

“Perhaps there is a way to return to your time.” Madara was careful to keep his features plain. He knew the time would come when she would want to leave, to go back. This wasn’t her time. It wasn’t his time, anymore but… “Or at the very least let them know you’re alright.” He suggested.

Sakura frowned. “How would I do that?”

“You’re in the past Sakura, not the future.” He pointed out patiently.

“Oh.” She nodded. “Oh!” She understood.

“I could...leave them a note you mean, kinda of?” She looked at him hopefully.

“Yes, I was thinking of something along those lines. Like how the Sage of Six Paths left our guide stone to the Uchiha.” He drove the point home.

Sakura thought over his words. “What if...I do more harm than good though, look what happened to you? It wasn’t your fault, not really I mean, Zetsu and Kaguya manipulated you but…”

“I understand.” He cut her off. “A valid point that deserves more thought.” He didn’t want this moment ruined by thinking ‘What if’, he wanted to be in the now, with her.

“Later.” Madara pulled her to his chest by the arms, bent his head and kissed her forcefully. “Now then my dear, show me where you want our garden.”


	18. Chapter 18

_A bright sliver of light shone along the path in front of her, Sakura could see that it was a strip of light coming from a much larger area, beyond the walls that surrounded her. Moving silently, she crept forward, her eyes focused on the widening strip of illumination. She paused, her ears pricked._

_“Of course it matters. The sacrifice must be from the main branch, a lesser sacrifice won’t do.” The arrogance, that is what was heard first, then the hatred, the loathing hatred of it all._

_Sakura crouched down, her hands pressing against the walls that held the light in, held it from her figure as she listened to the men in the other room. Keeping her safe, keeping her separated...from them._

_“Kaguya will suffice. She is strong enough, but worthless enough that she won’t be missed. This will be her moment, her one moment of freedom. She will accompany me on my mission to Earth and serve as the sacrifice for the family, for the kami tree. It is tradition, but it also serves its purpose. She won’t be missed.” The harsh voice continued with it’s arrogant speech._

_Kaguya? The Rabbit goddess...was a sacrifice? Sakura looked down at her hands, long fingered, pale cold hands. They were trembling, she was trembling. Wait, those weren’t her hands..._

_“Of course Lord Isshiki, as you wish. Kaguya will not agree to this willingly, she is stubborn and willful to a fault.” The other voice, the kinder voice in the room...the weaker voice persisted. Reasoned._

_“Then I will break her. She will finally know her place in the family, in our clan. Sacrifices do not need to be whole. Her blood will nourish the tree, broken bones or broken soul, it matters not. Now then, if that is all, there are other things I must attend to. One year allowance, that is all she will have to bear the fruit that will surpass her.” The cruelty...Sakura flinched back from the light and ran, fleeing into the darkened night. Her silvery white hair trailing out like a funeral banner behind her, her long slender fingers clutching at the collar of her kimono._

_“I am no one's sacrifice. You will never break me.” She grit out, her fists clenched at her sides as she fell to the cliffside, crawling into the small cave of her hidden sanctuary. “Isshiki, you bastard. I refuse to let you use me this way, I refuse to be your sacrifice.”_

Sakura woke with a start, her hand over her aching heart. She could feel her chakra pulsating in her veins, within the tight narrows of her coils and choked. Her stomach turned as she turned her head and vomited next to her pallet. “Ugh.”

“Perhaps good morning won’t suffice.” A droning humourless voice droned from across the fire from her. Sakura looked up at Madara, she was in no mood for his antics.

“Sakura.” His voice was low, catching her attention. “Your eyes love, they’re...violet again.”

Slowly, Sakura brought her hand up to her face while the other reached for her pouch beside her bedding. Pulling a small compact from her medical kit she peered into the rounded mirror and gasped. It was the first time she was seeing Hinata’s eyes, as her own. “How…”

“It seems you were not wholly untouched by Kaguya.” Madara watched Sakura with his own lavender eyes, rinnegan eyes. “Your chakra signature has been erased and your eyes are Kaguya’s eyes.” He commented absently as he looked at her. They had spoken of it before, in passing, perhaps it was time to...look further.

Sakura’s stomach turned again, but she kept her emotions in check. “Are you saying, I have somehow contracted Kaguya’s eyes?” Sakura turned her head to look at Madara in disbelief. Her lavender eyes wide and blinking. If he found it unsettling, he didn’t show it.

“She is the one who sent you here is she not, us…” Sakura nodded, his facade broke, his tone became agitated...he was concerned she realized. because neither one of them knew what this meant.

Madara moved briskly around their campsite. His voice seemingly controlled, but his motions hurried, snappy...not his usual fluid calm grace.

“What has happened?” Sakura pushed herself back into a proper sitting position, cast her eyes over the man in front of her with attention. Something had happened aside from her eyes, his jaw was tense and his fingers red, like he had been hitting something...not while training, but a tree, in anger.

“Nothing important.” He bit out sharply, his shoulder scrunching up. “Nothing you need to worry over my dear.” He added more gently.

Sakura nodded, pulling her pack closer to where she remained on her bedding. Clearly, he didn’t wish to speak about it, whatever it was. She would respect his wishes, for now.

It had been a few days since their talk with the others. They had returned to the desert until their new home could be built to Madara’s satisfaction.

As they had left the cliffside, that day, Sakura had felt like she was being watched, followed. The feeling of unease persisted, growing minutely within her head. She had asked Madara a few times in the last few days if he sensed anything, but like her, he sensed nothing, no one was there when she turned around to look over her shoulder. No one was there when she heard a voice talking to her in her head, mumbling lightly, obscurely just behind her ear.

She felt like she was going...crazy.

Then the dreams began, every night after their first meeting with the Senju, with Madara and Izuna, she had had the most unusual dreams, about Kaguya only...in the dreams it was like, like...she was Kaguya, like it was her life she was dreaming about but she knew...that was definitely insane.

She wasn’t Kaguya.

Laughter, subtle and light filled her head. Sakura shook her head fiercely, her hair flying around her face. “Stop it.” She pressed her fingers to her temples, pressing chakra into her mind to sooth the inner turmoil.

Madara watched Sakura with concern. Her dreams were getting worse, he knew. He felt her thrash in her sleep, woke when she woke crying, held her when she shivered with fear. He however, had dreamt very little.

“Your hair will not remain cut. Your eyes fade in and out and your signature is obsolete.” He spoke as though to himself but Sakura nodded anyway, pulling her sleeping shirt off over her head as she listened to him.

“Have you...tried pushing your chakra into your retinal coils, like the Hyuga do?” He asked her haltingly. “Your eyes are still purple, perhaps you should try it, to see what happens when attempting to...”

Before he could finish his sentence chakra surged forth from her inner coils to flood into her eyes, her head spun, she became dizzy...her hands flailed out in front of her to steady herself even though she remained sitting.

Madara reached out swiftly to grab her hands, to reassure her, to steady her. He watched as her eyes focused on his face once more.

“Oh kami.” Sakura gasped, the veins around her eyes straining, chakra moving and coursing behind her forehead. “The clarity.” She whispered before it became too much, before the darkness took her and her head exploded in a burst of heat.

_Little hands grasped onto long slender pale fingers as tears flowed unceasingly down a pale beautiful face._

_“Sakura. I will name you...Sakura, for your hair and the beauty of your soul.” Kaguya held Sakura to her chest and wept into her hair._

_“I will watch over her. I will tell her about you. You will not be forgotten.” Her maid told her, taking the baby from her arms._

_Kaguya nodded, dried her eyes on the sleeve of her traveling kimono and walked out of the room._

“Sakura.” Madara held the woman in his arms, pressing her head against his chest, his chin on top of her head. “What does it mean…” He asked the open air surrounding them.

“Hell if I know.” Sakura mumbled against his skin. “Don’t like it much though.”

She felt his arms tighten around her waist, he hadn’t known she had woken up.

Madara lifted her up and sat her down across his lap sideways. “Tell me Sakura, about your dreams, tell me what you know.”

She had half expected him to ask her this. She had been waiting. She knew why, she only wondered why now, why had he waited before, why hadn’t he asked her when she had woken up screaming or crying...why now.

“It isn’t much and it makes even less sense honestly.” She closed her eyes, even the dim light of his secret place was too bright for her at the moment. At first, she thought she had gone blind, until the dream had begun, or the vision...she still wasn’t sure what they were. If it was her or Kaguya that was...living this memory. This nightmare.

“It almost feels like…” She paused, would he think she was going mad? She had seen the way he looked at her earlier, concerned, worried. “It feels like...I've lived another life. Another life that I can’t remember but I’m trying to, desperately. Like my subconscious is pushing and pulling me toward...a revelation of sorts.”

“It sounds ridiculous. I know.” She laid her head back on Madara’s chest.

“It isn’t.” Madara said quietly, his heart thumping in his chest. “It isn’t ridiculous.”

“It isn’t?” Sakura almost laughed. It sounded ridiculous to her and she was the one who had said it. How could he not think it ridiculous?

“No.” Madara hugged her closer to him. “I never told you what the stone tablet said, not completely, not everything. It wasn’t important at the time.” He felt her stiffen in his arms. “I wasn’t trying to keep things from you Sakura, it is an Uchiha family heirloom. Even after all these years, secrecy runs deep in our blood.”

Sakura relaxed, of course, she understood. “Sorry.” She mumbled.

“The tablet warned against the immense power of the rinnegan, how to obtain it and how it should be protected but it also...told how it originated. How the Sage of the Six Paths first...acquired it. It told of his past, of his...mother and what he and his brother had been forced to do to her, to save the world that they loved.” He continued, ignoring her apology.

“Your dreams.” He moved underneath her, adjusting his position and her weight over him. “They sound similar to mine, ones I started having after you punched me in the face back in our time before we were transported to that lifeless world. When your fist connected, I realized...that hadn’t been our first connection. I felt it, in my soul.” He placed his hand over his chest.

Sakura watched his eyes, he was unsure, hesitant and…

“Do you believe in reincarnation Sakura?” He asked her seriously.

“Reincarnation? I don’t know I suppose I mean, my family was never very religious we...wait you think…” Her eyes went wide...no, she moaned internally.

‘Yes’, a voice murmured behind her ear.

“I feel like, we've met before, you and I. It is the same feeling I had when I first met Hashirama by the river those many years ago.” He tried to explain. “I felt it on the battlefield, when your friend Naruto clashed with Obito. That tingling connection, a link to...our past.”

“Naruto.” Sakura frowned, shifted uncomfortably, then snapped her head up to Madara’s steady gaze. “Hashirama.” She realized, connecting the dots, the gestures the...signs.

‘Blood traitor’, a venomous voice hissed in her head.

“The tablet told of a woman, the mother of all chakra named Kaguya Otsutsuki who bore two sons, conceived of her human lover, Hamura the younger son and Hagoromoro the elder. Also known as, the Sage of Six Paths.” Madara kissed the top of Sakura’s head.

“Oh kami.” Sakura was stunned. Kaguya was the Sage of Six Paths' mother? “I liked things better when I thought she was just the Rabbit goddess.”

Madara chuckled lightly.

“That doesn’t explain why she brought us here, or where I fit into this equation.” She pointed out.

“True but you must be part of it, otherwise why bring you. In fact I think I was a mere second thought. It seems to me, you were her target from the start, from the time of her resurrection, she only had eyes for you, Sakura. Did you not see the way she looked at you?’ He asked her.

“No.” Sakura admitted. “There was so much going on, I didn’t know what had happened exactly, not until, until Zetsu had grabbed me and...I didn’t even know he had grabbed you until I woke up and saw you there with me, in that dead world.”

“Your eyes, your hair and your lack of chakra signature. These are not coincidences.” He said out loud everything she had been thinking for the last few days. “We just don’t know what the connection is. I thought perhaps your dreams might be the key to finding out your connection to Kaguya, perhaps it could help us understand why we are here and how we can get home.”

“You want to leave?” She was surprised to hear this, she thought he was happy here, that he would want to stay with Izuna. They hadn’t spoken of it, both skirting the issue, avoiding the topic purposefully.

“There is already a Madara here. Izuna will live.” He said simply. “This time frame doesn’t need two of me.” He smirked at her.

Shrewd eyes narrowed at the Uchiha. “You mean you're sick of him watching me, flirting with me and following me around?”

“An added bonus, consider it motivation to find a way back home. You do wish to return do you not? Hokage?” Madara’s eyes spun red, his mangekyou fixing onto her lavender eyes thoughtfully. “Or was I mistaken? I was under the impression you missed your friends. Your Konoha.”

“I do.” Sakura said simply. “...but.”

“Then we will find a way to go home. Until then, let’s make the best of our situation. Let’s make sure it is a home worth returning to.” He smiled down at her.

“We don’t even know if we can return home Madara.” Sakura was under no false impressions of the massive task before them.

“Where there is a will, there is a way my dear.” Madara kissed the side of her neck, nuding her chin to the side.

“When did you become so positive?” She sighed into his kisses.

“About a month or so ago, give or take a week.” He laid her down on the soft grass to undress her.


	19. Chapter 19

Madara ran his palm up and down Sakura’s naked back as he thought about their previous conversation. She was asleep now, resting. He had asked her about her dreams, she had asked him about his desire to return to the time they had come from. Her change of subject had not been lost on him. He would be patient, for now.

She shivered under his touch, moving languidly, a smile on the corner of her lips.

“Keep your dreams my dear. For now.” Madara pulled the blanket up and over her sleeping form, easing out from underneath her. “I wish to speak with Hashirama. Rest, I’ll find you later.”

Sakura nodded in her half sleep, murmuring a soft farewell as he stepped away from their bedding.

An hour later, Sakura sealed the entrance to their little haven behind her, and started off toward the forests of Konoha moving swiftly across the sand. In the desert, not much had changed from this time to her own and she wondered briefly what Suna looked like right now. Then she realized, Suna...had yet to be formed.

Her feet touched lightly against the sand as she ran, guilt and a taste of homesickness tugging at her heart strings. Yes she wanted to go home, yes she missed her friends, her own time but this time frame wasn’t bad. If they couldn’t get back, it wouldn’t be the end of the world...she laughed to herself. The end of the world, Madara’s future proposition for all of them.

So much had changed.

She had the respect of Tobirama and Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha and the reluctant acknowledgement of Izuna Uchiha. Sakura laughed a little at that thought as she continued toward the tall trees on her horizon. Izuna Uchiha, so like Sasuke in both looks and personality that it was hard to resist teasing him. They had fallen into what Ino had often called a ‘Love/Hate’ relationship.

Sakura neared the edge of the forest, her speed had increased over the last month, she could now keep pace with Madara easier than she could when they had first been thrown back through time and space to rest in that lifeless void.

At first she hadn’t trained out of distraction, later out of the need to conserve their food stores, but now, here, she could resume her training and she would. It had always helped her think, to clear her mind with mindless repetitive training.

During Pein’s attack on Konoha Sakura had realized she needed to get serious about her training. After Tsunade failed to wake from her coma, Sakura put everything she had into advancing her skills. Both medically and physically. Shizune had helped her with her advanced medical training and a few of the medic nin from Lightning country, but Kakashi had been vital to her taijutsu training, something he had never bothered to teach her before.

Tsunade had taught her how to evade, to move, to think on her feet, but Kakashi taught her how to strike, to push and to take the offensive. Between council meetings, rebuilding the village and his ruthless Anbu training, she excelled. Only when Sasuke had come to watch her last few sparing matches with Yamato and Kakashi attacking her simultaneously did she realize how far she had come.

Only when he insisted on sparing with her did she realize, he finally saw her as an equal. When Itachi Uchiha had taken it upon himself to instruct her in genjutsu, she cried, grateful for all of their combined efforts.

It was then, word had come that Danzo was trying to take Tsunade’s place as Hokage, less than 24hours after her death, she hadn’t even been laid to rest yet.

Infuriated Sakura had burst into the council meeting and demanded a more qualified and connected leader be chosen, one who cared about the village, civilians and shinobi alike. One who was both familiar and on good terms with the neighbouring Kage. They had stared at her, they had glared at her...but when Shikamaru’s father had stood up alongside Itachi Uchiha and spoke her praises, they had considered her, and later, had chosen her as their new Hokage.

She had come far, she wasn’t that love sick twiddling little gennin anymore.

Sakura leapt up into the thin trees on the border of Fire and Wind, her hair streaming out behind her, her grip on the branches hard and firm. Her eyes focused, she pushed herself, chakra pumping through her legs. It was time for her to do it again, time for her to be stronger than yesterday as Tenten always chanted while they trained together.

She pushed her chakra through her retinal coils, a burst of heat filled her head. She could feel the veins on the sides of her eyes strain and pulse under the unfamiliar pressure, but when she closed her eyes, jumping to the next tree and opened them again...it was like a whole new world.

“Wow.” Sakura stopped at the top of one of the taller trees surrounding her. “Incredible.” She gaped in awe at the forest perimeter, the birds in the sky and the ants crawling up the rotting trunk of an oak tree two miles away.

‘This is only the beginning’, a voice cooed to her inside her head just behind her left ear. “There is so much more for you to see, for you to experience little Kura’, the voice continued to coo. “I will show you everything’, it promised.

Sakura licked her bottom lip and nodded her head in acceptance. She wanted to experience it, she wanted to see it all.

“Show me.” Her lips moved on their own, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. “Show me everything.”

“A promise then’, White Zetsu purred around her neck, kissing the back of her ear from inside the inner workings of her consciousness. ‘Mother would be so proud of her little girl’

“Mother.” Sakura swallowed hard, recalling her dreams. “You mean Kaguya?”

‘Yes.’, the voice was almost a hiss, cajoling, soothing. ‘Mother, Kaguya, sacrifice...she had many names, many roles…’

“Sacrifice.” Sakura looked down at her hands. They weren't pale, her fingers weren't very long but they were strong. She clenched her fingers into her palms forming a fist. “My dreams…”

“Yes’

“They’re, memories...aren’t they?” She asked.

‘Yes’

“Kaguya’s memories?” Sakura asked, even though...she already knew, she had already come to the conclusion.

‘Your mother’s memories of you, of your...conception’

“Who, who was my father?” She asked.

‘It does not matter, he is dead’

“It matters.” Sakura insisted.

‘It does not matter, he was cruel and he is dead’

“Dead, of course. I understand.” Of course he was dead, he would be generations past Sakura surmised.

‘You do not understand. Your line, the main branch has exceptional life, a strong life force. Their descendants all possess it. The Uzumaki, the Uchiha...the Hyuga’ It cooed, cold fingers wrapping around her neck.

“Descendants you mean…” Sakura was beginning to understand. If she was the daughter or the reincarnation of Kaguya's daughter...Madara was the reincarnation of Indra and Hashirama was...Asura… “I’m sleeping with my nephew?” Sakura gasped.

‘Several generations beyond, but yes’ An amused cackling filled the air. ‘It can be remedied, he is beneath your station’

“My eyes.” Sakura pushed her sickness from her mind, there would be time later to evaluate her relationship with Madara. “Are they, did my…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Do I have the Byakugan?” She asked.

‘In its most purest form’ She could feel fingers tracing her cheek, moving down her neck to rest just above her chest at the bottom of her throat.

“Are you, who...what are you?” She hesitated. “Are you...inner?”

‘Inner, no, similar, yes’ The voice was fading, the touch turning to vapor…

“Do you have a name, what do I call you and how are you, in my head? Did inner let you in?” Thoughts of Ino and the chunin exams came back to Sakura. If the voice was connected to her...estranged mother then perhaps it was inner or had been suppressed like inner had been?

‘Names are not important. I am a friend, sent by mother to guide you, to help you with your new found power’ The voice faded away, its miniscule presence disappeared from her body, from her mind.

Sakura brought her hand up to her temple. “How strange.” She murmured against the back of her other hand as she pulled the chakra back from her retinal coils. 

“How...exciting.” She grinned impishly as she jumped down from the tree and twirled, laughing at this new discovery.

“Do you often talk to yourself, spin in circles and laugh in the secluded forest alone?” A deep voice startled her out of her joy.

Sakura spun, kicked out, then flipped backward from Tobirama Senju’s attempted hold. “Forgive me Tobirama San, I did not sense you.”

Sakura bowed slightly, her head cocked to the side, listening. The birds continued to chirp and peck, they didn’t still their pratter at his arrival, how strange. History spoke always of Hashirama Sama’s affinity for nature and wood release but never mentioned anything about Tobirama having a similar skillset.

“I can pull my chakra into my innermost pools and seal it, making it completely undetectable.” He explained. “I can tell my presence perplexed you.” He offered her a slight smile.

“Ah.” Sakura nodded awkwardly. Aside from their first meeting and the meeting at the Senju compound, Sakura and Tobirama hadn’t spoken to one another much. Madara’s doing no doubt. “A useful skill.”

“Was there a reason you were…” His mouth twitched. “Twirling about laughing like a loon Sakura San?”

“Uh.” She blushed with embarrassment. “A discovery, self discovery is all. Nothing worth mentioning.” Sakura pulled on a lock of hair distractedly. Tobirama Senju’s stern face watched her keenly, making her self conscious of her movements. 

“What are you doing out here? Isn’t it a bit far from your compound?” She asked curiously, noticing the large basket he carried on his right with a seal at the bottom. “What are you foraging for?”

Tobirama’s mouth tightened. “Women forage. I am collecting some ingredients for an antidote. One of the maids has fallen ill. I believe she ate something poisonous.” He stepped past her abruptly.

“Did I offend you?” Sakura turned on her heel to follow him, only to run into his back when he stopped and took a quick step toward her.

“No.” He looked down at her. He was terrible at this. He had never known how to speak to women. Sakura was different but when he had come across her in the forest earlier, laughing and twirling around like some forest fairy, his words of greeting and cordiality had fallen from his head to get lost in the leaf mold at his feet. It wasn’t like before when he had met her on the border, he simply had no more words. “I must hurry. You understand.”

“Of course, but I might be able to help you. I have extensive knowledge of poisons and antidotes, having met a poison master more than once in my short life so far.” She smiled kindly at the white haired Senju who nodded briskly back.

Sakura moved around the forest beds with ease, picking up a flower here and a mushroom there. Digging up a rather stubborn root she pulled and tumbled backward. Tobirama caught her around her shoulders, then let go of her just as quickly as though she were on fire, his ears turning pink.

Sakura blinked. Was he...did he…

“Is that a storage seal on the bottom of your basket Tobirama San?” Sakura broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them after that last exchange.

“Yes, one of my own design. It is quite useful when foraging for multiple items.” His words came easier to him when speaking about tasks and objectives.

“I thought you said women foraged Tobirama San?” Sakura teased him.

He glared at her. She laughed. Several minutes went by in silence.

“How delightful to have such a useful seal, will you draw one for me? I would like to study it if you don’t mind?” Sakura dropped a few roots into his basket and smiled up at him.

“You are interested in seals?” He was surprised, most people were only interested in what could cause harm to their enemies, jutsus that killed, not healed or helped in areas of non combat.

“Very much. I started to do research into a variety of seals but then the leader of the terrorist group the Akatsuki declared war on Konoha and put an abrupt stop to that.” Sakura shrugged and dropped two more flowers into his basket.

“The Akatsuki, the group Madara ran through his proxy Obito Uchiha?” Tobirama recalled a bit of what she had told them before.

“Yes.” She looked down to the small plant she was digging up. “The ones who killed my shisou, your great niece.”

“The Senju, the Hokage before you?” He needed clarification before writing it into the back of his brain.

“Yes.” Sakura placed the small plant in his basket, her fingers lingering on the already wilting leaves.

“Sakura.” Tobirama’s voice dropped a decibel.

Sakura looked up to find the Senju regarding her with curious eyes. “Yes?”

“What could you possibly see in Madara Uchiha? Your history, your associates, everything suggests that you are mortal enemies and yet...yet you live together, touch and...what could you possibly see in a man like him, a monster?” Tobirama said forcefully, passionately and in a rush, his voice getting louder at the end. “It isn’t logical and you seem so...level headed and logical, it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well, I…” She paused. She hadn’t been expecting this but...she could understand his confusion. “I suppose I have every reason to hate Madara. It’s true, he was a monster. He tried to imprison the world, he killed thousands and well...maybe I should hate him, but I don’t.”

“You don't.” His voice was flat.  
Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest, the basket hanging off his left elbow. “You have every reason to hate him, you should hate him, but you don’t.”

Sakura tapped her last clean, dirt free finger against her front teeth and considered the Senju in front of her. “You want me to hate him, don’t you?” She cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

“I don’t want you to hate him.” Tobirama said gruffly. “I simply do not understand why you don’t after what he has done to your world, to your people.”

“He was being used, Tobirama. He was a pawn in someone else’s great plan.” Sakura pointed out what she had pointed out at their last meeting. “He regrets…”

Tobirama cut her off. “He regrets, he says he regrets but I don’t think he does. He may have been a pawn in this Kaguya’s plans, he may have been manipulated by that Zetsu thing, but he did plan to cast his Infinite Tsukuyomi over the world, your world...perhaps what he regrets is failing.” Tobirama lifted his chin to Sakura. “Thank you for your help, I did not...wish to argue with you only...it’s just. Irritating.”

“Irritating?” Sakura didn’t understand.

“You forgive him too easily, Sakura San. You are too kind.” Tobirama said bluntly. “He will hurt you, they are cursed, all the Uchiha are cursed. You are my future great niece’s student, it is my responsibility to look out for you.”

“Tobirama San, there is no need to look out for me. I’m…” Sakura bagan.

“I know, you are a Hokage, but…” Tobirama curled his fingers into his palms on his right side. “Forget it.” He threw out a tag and disappeared in a flash.

“What the hell was that?” Sakura spun around looking for any trace of the man but there wasn’t any. “What did I say to make him so upset?” Was it because she defended Madara, but…

“He always was a bit temperamental.” A deep drawling voice had her spinning on her heel once more.

“Oh Madara. I didn’t sense you.” Sakura tilted her head to the left, why hadn’t she sensed him?

“Chakra cloaking seal.” Madara raised a one by one inch square of rice paper into the air held between two fingers and turned it so she could see the ink. “I use it to move freely, a safe guard against sensors such as Tobirama San.” He explained.

“I wasn’t aware you had such knowledge of seals Madara.” Sakura smiled, stepping closer to her lover and kissed the side of his cheek. “Can I borrow it when you’re done? I’d like to play with it, see if I can’t make something else of it.”

Sakura was looking at the seal in between Madara’s fingers, she didn’t notice how his eyes had fixed onto her lips, how his shoulders had tensed when she had kissed him. She didn’t seem to notice that this wasn’t ‘her’ Madara.

“Of course my dear. As you wish.” He replied calmly, collectedly.

“There’s a beautiful stream full of fat fish over that hill.” Madara nodded his head past a small but dense grouping of trees. “If you’d care to join me for an early lunch?” He held his hand out to her, and waited with baited breath.

“That sounds delightful Madara, and after we could talk about how to get back home?” She laid her hand in his.

“If you like. I myself find talking overrated, perhaps after lunch we could spend some time, not talking?” He raised a dark brow at her in insinuation. She didn’t need to go home, his other self however...

Sakura laughed. “It would be my pleasure.”

He pulled her into his arms and jumped up into the trees. “The pleasure is mine, Love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...been pretty tired lately, which is odd for me. Didn't update much last week, sorry. Probably won't update much this week, tired. Won't abandon, have faith. Stay well. Ja ne~


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adult content
> 
> ...muahaha ~

Madara watched Sakura with unblinking assertive eyes. They had caught two fish each and were roasting them on sticks over a well built fire. She was drawing and redrawing his chakra concealing seal, analyzing it with admirable intensity. He was impressed, she was clearly familiar with seals, how to make them and how to break them down.

He hadn’t met many shinobi with this sort of analytical mindset, female or male. She fascinated him. Madara could see why his other self had been drawn to her. It wasn’t her looks, he acknowledged again to himself, it was her mind. It was the most attractive thing about her he mused as she tilted her head to the side, drawing another variation of his seal, her brow furrowed in concentration, her bottom lip between her front teeth.

The pensive look on her face was adorable.

“I’ve never seen someone so determined to dissect a seal and its properties before Sakura dear.” Madara grinned as she looked up at him with unfocused eyes, her mind still on the seal's formula. “You’re quite an unusual woman.”

Sakura smiled, the original seal in her right hand as she drew yet another variation of it with her left. “When I’m interested in something I tend to focus on it in an obsessive manner. Shisou told me it was one of my best and worst traits.”

“Your shisou, the Senju, correct?” He asked and she nodded.

Madara had heard her speaking with Tobirama. He too wondered at her forgiveness, given her shisou, her friends and ties to the village he had presumably attacked as their Hokage.

She had told them a bit of her background in their previous meeting but he had come here in search of her to find out more, not only about her but of the future. He had felt her signature moving across the desert, felt his other self’s chakra moving off in another direction, settling in at the Senju’s compound.

What he hadn’t planned on, was Tobirama. It had worked out in his favor though. By listening to their conversation he had learned a few things about the woman, piece by piece he was putting her personality into an organized perspective. Something he would need to...make her lower her guard around him.

He had dressed simply today. Settling on a plain shirt and pants, foregoing his regular masculine wrapper in favor of the future Uchiha’s taste in dress. She hadn’t seemed to notice the difference in their clothing. An unusual error he thought. He would have thought her to be much more observant from their previous encounters.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon Madara. How did your talk with Hashirama San go?” Sakura asked, turning their fish for them and picking the last seal up for inspection again.

“Well enough.” He replied, then elaborated when she looked up at him quizzically, clearly she had expected him to say more. His other self seemed to be much more chatty than he was used to. It was irritating as well as perplexing. “I will be meeting up again with him later this afternoon, he had some clan business to take care of.”

“Ah.” Sakura smiled. “That’s good. You seem to have fallen right back into your friendship with him, he must be glad to have you back. Of course...there is the current Madara to think of.” Sakura frowned down at the two newly drawn seals in her hands.

“What is there to think of where the current Madara, as you call him, is concerned?” Madara wondered what they thought of him, how they viewed him and what the future Madara had told her about his past self, about him.

“It must be terribly uncomfortable for him don’t you think? Not knowing how things turned out except for what we’ve told him. I mean, if it were me I would be terribly suspicious. Who is to say we are telling the truth?” She looked up at him, her green eyes green again.

Madara studied the woman, he could have sworn her eyes had been tinted lavender when he had come upon her with the Senju.

“You gave him proof. You knew about his secluded paradise.” He admitted. 

He was still a bit disgruntled about that. No one had ever set foot in his secret place but him. Of course it was him, only from the future and the more he thought of it the less it bothered him that she too, had been allowed to enter his domain.

“Yes, but for me I’m not sure that would be enough. What you said to him though, about hearing his mother’s voice, your mother’s voice...nothing is known about her. Can you tell me about her? She must have meant quite a bit to you, by his reaction.” Sakura smiled softly at him, setting the seals down on the ground in front of her, giving him her full attention.

“I…” Madara paused. No one had ever dared ask him about his mother. There wasn’t anyone outside of the clan that would want to know. Again, he wondered at his future self relationship with this strange woman. Were they so close that she felt comfortable enough to ask him such things, entitled to know such private things about his past, his clan?

“She was...our mother. She died and our father was...all that was left.” He got out in painfully clipped pauses. “Our two brothers had died recently and…” His mouth snapped shut.

Sakura’s eyes softened. She hadn’t realized asking about his mother would affect him so deeply, but she should have, she realized as she looked at him, she shouldn’t have asked him.

“I’m sorry Madara. It’s none of my business, I shouldn’t have asked you about your mother.” She moved over to sit in front of him. “Forgive me?”

“Of course.” He said automatically, unsure of how his other self would reply to such a sincere apology. “It is nothing.” He waved his hand graciously, she caught it in her hands and kissed the palm. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up the act with her. Was this her gift? Sincerity? Was this how she had weasled her way into his future self’s heart?

“No, it is clearly something very private and personal to you. Tell me when you're ready okay? I can wait. I won’t push you.” She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the corner of his mouth.

Madara leaned into the kiss, pulled her to his chest with the hand she held, twisting his palm to grasp her more firmly and lifted her up to sit on his lap. This is what he wanted, touch, to feel.

“I will tell you, when I’m ready, about everything.” He meant it, only what he would tell her wasn’t what she thought. He would tell her he wasn’t the Madara she thought he was, after he...got more information out of her and perhaps, some entertainment.

His cold hearted plot was falling apart though. The warmth of her soul was tugging on the cracked edges of his hard sensibilities. He feared if he continued to touch her, his abominable will would crumble around him, yet, he couldn’t pull away, he couldn’t push her aside. He...wanted her.

Madara bent his head to her waiting lips and brushed his bottom lip over her top lip. He could feel the warm exhale of her breath on his mouth, could feel the comforting weight of her body in his lap. With one hand behind her head, he kissed her, his other hand sliding up under the hem of her shirt to cup her breast.

He wanted to be gentle with her, this urge for intimacy confused him, almost angered him. Why...he had never felt the need to be gentle before, never cared about how he made his partner feel, but with Sakura...

He wanted more…

“Madara, the fish, it will burn if…” She began to protest, pushing her small delicate hands against his chest. He growled. No, he didn’t want her to pull away from him.

“Let it burn.” He pressed his lips more forcefully to her mouth. He didn’t want her to speak anymore, he wanted her to submit, to be silent and let him…

“No.” Sakura pulled back from his embrace and scrambled to the fire to pull the fish from their place. “That is a terrible waste Madara.”

He growled again. She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed.

“Don’t you growl at me Uchiha. Since when do you act so carelessly, do you not remember it was only last week we were trapped in a world without sustainable food?” She scolded him.

No, he didn’t remember, because he wasn’t the Madara she thought he was. “Of course my dear, how foolish of me.” He inclined his head to her, willing himself to remain calm, not to grab her and force her into submission.

Sakura paused in her movements. Something was off about Madara. Something was different. She could almost feel his agitation. She held two of the four fish out to him. He took it with a smile and a nod. She watched him peel the skin back with his left hand and take a bite. Slowly she peeled her own fish and ate with him in silence, thinking.

When she spoke again, clearly her thoughts had moved in a different direction than his own...

“Have you had an opportunity to speak with Izuna again? You know, to see how he feels about all of this, you know, two brothers, news about how he was killed by Tobirama?” She asked him, her eyes on her fish as she sent her chakra into the earth around them, searching for his pulse as he sat on the ground not far from her.

“Izuna was rightfully put out by the news. No one likes to hear they were killed by their most hated and despised enemy.” Madara laughed...forcefully. 

He knew she was visually prying his intentions apart, watching, observing him. He had seen her posture tense, she was...suspicious of him. He had hoped his act was close enough to fool her but he hadn’t counted on his future self being so...soft with her. He hadn’t counted on how close they seemed to be. It almost made him sick when he realized how open his other self must be with the woman for her to be so comfortable around him.

...it made him uncomfortable to think of how comfortable his future self must be around the woman to have let his guard slip so foolishly with her, allowing her to get so close. 

She would break through his defenses any moment, he needed to get a hold of himself. He had to rectify this and quickly. One faint cause of suspicion was one thing, one after the other, was detrimental to his entire plan.

“It humbles me to see how things would have been if not for this knowledge. I’m just glad we were able to come to this time to help my little brother.” The sappy half felt words must have been what she had expected, her whole body relaxed...he found himself...disappointed, he had thought she was better than that. He had expected more from her. Well, he reasoned, she was a woman, after all.

“For both of your sakes.” She set down one of her sticks, fish gone and began peeling the skin back of her other fish. “You were incredible, there’s no arguing that Madara. Hot too, so sexy. If you weren’t there to kill all of us I might have asked you for your number.” She laughed out loud.

Number? What the hell does that mean, he wondered but didn’t ask, he just nodded his head like he knew what she meant. He was sure his other self would know.

Sakura set her fish down on top of the discarded skin of her first fish and looked him in the eye. “Your heart wasn’t in it you know. I could see it in your eyes. Past the maniacal laughter, past the fierceness, the sheer power and ruthlessness, I could see it, the pain you held in your heart, it was there, just behind your eyes.” She could feel the pulse through the earth.

“You hid it well, even from yourself.” Her voice remained soft, but penetrating.

Thump Thump.

His heart rate was rapidly increasing.

“You were lonely. So lonely after Izuna died, weren’t you Madara?” She stared at him, looked straight at him. He shifted his legs a bit, but other than the slightest shift of his weight, he didn’t move...not one inch.

If she hadn’t sought out the connection though the earth, she never would have known how very desperate he was feeling. At. That. Very. Moment.

“How horrible it must have been.” She pressed further. “To be completely defeated and alone, to not even have your little brother with you. That’s why, isn’t it Madara, that’s why you conceded in the end, after Hashirama agreed to kill himself instead of Tobirama, you conceded because you couldn’t stand the thought of being alone anymore...being without Izuna, so you sought the only other bond you had...Hashirama.” Her gaze was steady.

He felt like she was looking right through him, no...like she was looking into his soul and he realized, this is the bond she had with his other self...understanding.

“Perhaps.” He set down his empty sticks, reached out to her again and pulled her into his lap once more.

Madara plucked the now empty stick from her hand and flung it point first into the nearby tree, ducked his head and kissed her forcefully, licking the fish oil from her bottom lip. 

“I’m not alone anymore though.” He whispered around her mouth, pulling her head back by her hair with one hand the other sliding back up her shirt like before to cup her breast. “I have my brother still, and now I have you as well.”

Madara pulled her shirt off over her head and laid her down on the ground. “...and you, have me.”

He pulled his shirt loose, shrugging it off his shoulders and started to untie his pants.

“It is you then.” Sakura pushed her pants down around her ankles, kicking them off with a smile on her lips. Relief washed over her. “For a moment, I thought you were, the other one, you know, the Madara of this time.”

“Yes, it’s the real me Sakura, did you doubt it?” He smirked at her, wondering who was the better lover... him, or…

“Yes, briefly but I was being silly, come here Madara, let me feel you.” Sakura reached out for her lover, pulling him over her now naked body.

“That was my intention, Love.” Madara pushed her legs apart and entered her roughly, groaning out loud at her tightness. 

“Madara.” Sakura wove her fingers through his thick spiky hair, burying her face in his neck as he moved and jerked above her, pulling her up, lifting her bottom to thrust deeper and deeper into her smaller frame. “Please…” She begged him, her nails digging into his scalp.

Yes, he groaned into her chest as he bent over her body, his hips digging into hers, pressing her into the grass. This is what he wanted, a strong woman, a worthy woman to have by his side. What was the future Madara’s, was also his, and before he had entered her soft warm wet, he thought he could share her, he thought, two bodies and one mind but now...now that he could feel her sex clenching and contracting around his cock, no...she belonged to him and only him.

Like his other half, he wouldn’t share her either. ‘She’s mine’, wasn’t that what he had told himself? No, she’s mine...he growled into the soft warmth of her embrace, his fingers bruising her hips as he pulled her against him again and again. “Mine.” He growled.

“Yours.” Sakura bit down hard into his shoulder making him buck against her with even more vigor.

“Again.” He gasped, his palms pressing into her flesh, grabbing at her skin, pulling her body relentlessly. “Bite me again Sakura Love.”

“Mmm.” Her light groaning intensified as he lifted her again, moving her into a different position. “Ah…” She cried out, her lips pressed against the curve of his neck just above his shoulder.

Was she like this with the other Madara...did he make her feel like this? He had to win, he had to focus and...fragmented thoughts flitted through his brain. How though, how does one fight against oneself? Particularly when your other self has the rinnegan and the eternal mangekyou sharingan.

It would be difficult, but Madara had never backed down from a worthy challenge, and this, she...was worth it.

Sakura moaned out underneath him, snapping him back to the moment. “So good.” He murmured raising up over her, his weight resting on his forearms as his eyes spun red to look down at her. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and shut, her head moving slowly back and forth in ecstasy as he moved within her.

“You’re so beautiful.” The words fell from the corner of his mouth before he realized what he had said. 

He had been with many beautiful women, but never before had he told them, in the throes of passion, how beautiful they were, because they weren’t there to be pleasured by him, they were there to pleasure him, their own pleasure being of no concern to him, but this woman, Sakura was...different.

Madara found himself wanting to please her, wanting to pull deeper and deeper moans from her lungs, all for him, because of him and what he did to her, how he made her feel...he wanted her to…

“Damn it.” He groaned, his climax taking him. 

“Ungh.” He released his pleasure inside of her, stilling up against her entrance fully locked into place as his orgasam ebbed away. 

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, fingertips trailing down his sweaty back. “I love you Madara.”

Madara’s head snapped up, his eyes glowed and spun, the mangekyo spinning wildly in his cornea.

Sakura’s eyes fluttered open. She hadn’t meant to say that, only… “Madara?”

She hadn't expected him to say it back but his silence was…she looked up into his eyes and froze. Where was his eternal mangekyou sharingan pattern, or even his rinnegan...no...no…

“You’re not…” Sakura screamed, pushed other Madara off of her with chakra infused palms, grabbed her clothes from the ground and ran.


	21. Chapter 21

Sakura’s chakra spiked and jolted uncontrollably, she could feel the pressure of the immense chakra fluctuation burning behind her eyes seeking immediate release. Chakra flowed into her retinal coils, into her feet, her palms and her seal in her forehead. Pain shot down the right side of her body. She groaned and slipped along the branches she ran across, falling down to sprawl into a heap at the base of a large Konoha oak.

She needed to calm down, to get her chakra under control. Adrenaline shot through her blood like electricity. She felt dizzy.

“Konoha.” Sakura grasped the side of her head, her fingers digging into her temples. “Madara.”

How could she have been so stupid? She couldn’t tell the difference, she hadn’t sensed that...this was…

“Oh kami, what is Madara going to say?” She groaned. She knew he wouldn’t say a thing to her, he would go and kill his other self, then deal with her. “Oh kami.” She hung her head, shaking it back and forth. No, that’s what he would have done before, but now, no he was much more reserved now right? She realized, maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did.

A cold Spring breeze came up across the forest floor reminding her of her incriminating state of undress. Quickly, she pulled her clothes on over her head and pants up over her hips. She grimaced at the wetness between her legs. She would need to bathe and soon. 

Madara might not have the keen nose Kakashi Hatake did but she would be an even bigger fool than she had already been that day if she thought he wouldn’t be able to smell another man’s seed on her.

She groaned again. Would he tell him? Would the Madara she just left tell her Madara that they had...had sex?

...she had told him that she loved him. She groaned out again. She was pathetic. How quickly she had reverted back to her foolish genin days. How disheartening.

She couldn’t even tell them apart, she scolded herself…much less what either of them would do in a situation like this. A situation like this...

She laughed out loud. Who the hell has ever been in a situation like this before?

‘He won’t kill him’ the voice in her head assured her. ‘He’ll be upset but what can he do really, it is him, is it murder if you kill yourself, no, it’s suicide and Madara Uchiha is not suicidal’.

Sakura snorted. “How do you know though, you’re me aren’t you?”

‘Yes and no. I am a part of you. A long forgotten, old part of you that you never knew existed. As for Madara Uchiha well, I’ve known him for much longer than you may think. He won’t kill him. Best to leave him alone for a bit when he finds out though, let him think it over, process it as you like to say in your more modern times.’. A soft caress to the side of her cheek.

“Why do you do that, touch me if you’re part of me?” She asked. 

Light touches across her temple and through her hair had her closing her eyes. ‘You don’t like it?’

“I do. I just, it’s strange to me so…” She opened her eyes, no one was there.

‘I’ll stop, if you want me to’

“No, it’s okay I suppose if...is it real though or only in my head?” She had thought about it the first time she had felt the touch on her skin and thought...maybe it’s like comforting yourself. Her cheeks flushed as she thought about other ways she touched herself in comfort.

A low chuckle sounded in her ears. ‘I could touch you like that too, if you need me to’.

Sakura licked her lips. “No, uh...thank you.”

Another soft chuckle. “As you wish’, pressure against her mouth made her step back, she tripped and fell down hard.

‘Opps’, laughter filled the air then faded away.

Madara’s head turned toward the other end of the room. Was that…

“Isn’t that...Sakura Chan?” Hashirama’s head was also turned toward the other end of the room, looking seemingly past the walls of his home toward the West where the faint trace of flowery chakra had exploded just a moment ago.

“Her chakra is supposed to be untraceable.” Madara mumbled as though to himself.

Hashirama watched his friend. “I have been meaning to ask you about that. Perplexing really. Does she use a seal to hide her chakra or is it herbal, a remedy that renders her chakra undetectable?” Hashirama leaned forward in his seat a bit. He was very interested in the woman that had captured his friend’s unwavering attention and wanted to know more about her.

“I believe…” Madara chose his words carefully. “It is a result of our passing through time. Something changed when we went through...the space between, rendered her chakra undetectable. In fact the only other time I sensed her chakra was before we were transported. On the battlefield.”

Madara was still looking off to the west, his fingers tapping gently on his knee. Hashirama shifted in his seat.

“Do you want to go to her?” He offered. “Perhaps we should make sure she is safe. There have been wandering packs of robbers in this area lately. They don’t come too close to the compound but our clan name precedes us. A lone woman though...”

Madara shook his head. “She doesn’t need our protection Hashirama, trust me.” He grinned a little at the vision of Sakura from their war, her fists clenched, green chakra cracking around her knuckles as she flew through the air at him. “I’ll check on her later. Not to worry my friend.”

“As you will.” Hashirama smiled. Madara thought of the woman as an equal. He never thought he’d see the day. “So then, you came to talk to me about how you got here and about...your other half I assume?” Hashirama poured out more sake, it was time to get down to business.

“Yes and no. I wanted to ask for your help.” Madara took his cup in his hand. “I want to find a way back, to her time, to the time we came from. We don’t belong here Hashirama.”

“Hum.” Hashirama nodded hesitantly. “Well, you do and you don’t. I’m afraid I don’t see the issue honestly and it isn’t only because I have my friend back...two of them.” He smiled sincerely.

“It’s the two of us that’s the issue.” Madara laid a heavy hand over his heart. “I’ve been feeling ill since this morning. It’s a strange illness and I can’t quite place it.”

“I haven’t told her. There is nothing to tell if there is nothing to worry about and I don’t even know what it is much less if it’s serious but…” Madara paused.

“...but you think it is.” Hashirama finished his friend’s thought. “You think like Sakura’s masked chakra signature that this too, this ill feeling is a result of your traveling back to this time?” Hashirama guessed and Madara nodded.

“That’s not the real issue here though is it Madara?” Hashirama looked his friend in the eye. “The real issue is what does it mean. Why is Sakura Chan’s chakra masked, for what reason, who did it and how? Why are you ill, is it the same reason Sakura’s chakra is masked, the same person and why? ...and does it have something to do with there being two of you in this timeline.” Hashirama ended, picking up the sake bottle and filling their cups once more.

Madara nodded. “There is only supposed to be one Madara Uchiha here, in this time. We are bending the laws of nature, Hashirama, being here and I can’t help but wonder if nature is trying to set itself right by...getting rid of me.” 

“Possibly. However, jutsu also bends the laws of nature my friend. It breaks the boundaries of both time and space, much like what happened to you and your Sakura hum? We’ll find a way. Either a way back to her time, or a way to keep both of you here in tandem with your other self.” Hashirama smiled confidently at his friend. “I’ll need to ask Tobi for his help. His new jutsu, the one you said would kill Izuna San, bends time and space to propel him forward, backward...onward.”

Madara knew this. He hated the idea of asking that man for help. Izuna would have a fit. “I know. Thank you Hashirama.”

He knew, of course he knew about Tobirama’s jutsu. He had known about it before Tobirama had a chance to tell him, his brother about it. Hashirama wondered what else Madara and the woman knew, about him and all of their futures. He blushed. He wondered who he would marry. That, however, wasn’t important at the moment.

“Worst case scenario, you die and she ends up with your other self!” Hashirama laughed out loud at his joke but stopped abruptly when he saw the murder in Madara’s eyes. “I was kidding Madara.”

“Don’t you think I’ve already thought of that? Why the hell do you think I’m here Hashirama. That man, that Madara, is not the same man I am now. He will use her and throw her away, you think I haven’t thought of all of this?” Madara had lost his patience.

“I’m sorry, I just ...I meant no harm Madara I just…” Hashirama stuttered. “Sorry, but you know...I think you’re wrong. You don’t give yourself enough credit. I’ve seen the way he looks at her, it isn’t that different than the way you look at her.”

Madara inclined his head and drained his cup. “I know that. Where is your brother, where is Tobirama? I’d like to get moving on this. You understand.”

Hashirama wasn’t the fool people tended to think he was. He saw exactly what was going on here. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place before him, the only pieces that were missing, were those which belonged to the woman, to Sakura. He wanted to speak to her, but that too would have to wait for a more convenient time.

Briefly, he wondered...did time flow on a parallel plane? If they went back, would they have the knowledge of the years they skipped over, would Madara make the trip back into the future with the changes they had set into motion since their arrival in this time frame? Was that why his chest pained him? The changes had already begun and the only way to change them, would be to travel farther into the past, before their arrival.

A risky thought.

“I haven’t seen him since early this morning. I believe he is in the forest, searching for medicinal herbs.” Hashirama scratched his chin.

Tobirama had felt the chakra spike, but more importantly he had felt the very familiar intense emotional turmoil, of an increasingly familiar woman. 

“Sakura?” Her name slipped past his lips as he slipped through the trees to the west. 

He just wanted to make sure she was okay, he told himself as he quickened his pace. It wasn’t because he wanted to see her. Women were a distraction, he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. He still wasn’t sure he trusted Madara Uchiha and he knew for a fact he couldn’t trust Izuna Uchiha.

She was already taken anyway, he reminded himself, coveted by not one man but two. Even if he was interested in the woman, which he wasn’t, he couldn’t have picked a less available one if he had tried.

Tobirama broke through a dense canopy of trees, dropped down to the forest floor and paused. Why was she sitting on the ground? His chakra was lowered of course but he still thought she ought to have noticed him, she always had before. Was she so dangerously distracted not to mind her surroundings? Wasn’t she one of the future Hokage of Konoha, the village he would help create? He frowned.

“Sakura San.” Tobirama’s deep voice pulled her unexpectedly from her guilty thoughts of self loathing. “Are you well?”

Sakura lifted her head from her hands and looked over her shoulder at the white haired Senju. Out of all the future Hokage it had to be him of course to find her like this. Better him than Madara of course. “Of course Tobirama San. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her voice was much less forceful, much less confident than he had come to expect from her. She didn’t look like the poised and collected Hokage he had seen the other day, she didn’t have that confident gleam in her eye like she had when she had challenged the sand nin on the border, no she looked and sounded...fragile to him.

Never one to put much stake in frailty, he glowered at her. Was this a trick, was she testing him? He stepped out into the small clearing and surveyed her rumbled clothes, her tangled and wayward hair, the smell of...male surrounding her person. He flinched back, his jaw tightening.

Quickly he scanned the surrounding area for chakra signatures. Madara was with Hashirama in the Senju compound. Izuna was at the Uchiha compound and the current time frame’s Madara was…”Where is this time frame’s Madara, Sakura San?”

Sakura’s mouth tightened, a barely visible gesture, a tell tale sign of…

“Did he…” Tobirama relaxed his stance a bit, trying to be less domineering and suspicious. “Are you…”

“You can’t tell Madara, my Madara.” Sakura rose to her feet, brushing her hands swiftly and decisively over her rumpled clothing. She was under no false impression that he hadn’t come to the very accurate conclusion that she and Madara had...had… 

“It wasn’t rape.” She looked up into Tobirama’s skeptical red eyes.

“It was...deceit.” She looked down at her hands as she rummaged through her pack. “I need to bathe.” She hissed as though to herself.

“Ah.” Tobirama had no words except…”I’ll be close by, in case you...need someone.”

Green eyes shot up in contempt. “You think I wanted him? You think I led him on don’t you that I…” Her anger was biting, but just as clearly as it was venomous, was not directed at him, even if he was the only one nearby.

“I think nothing.” He turned his back to her politely. “I worry only of your distracted state. You didn’t even sense me until I spoke your name.”

“I…” He was right. She hadn’t even been aware of his presence until it had been too late. If he were an assassin, or if he had meant her harm, it would have been too late. “Thank you.”

“There is a river a half mile to the East.” He motioned to the east with his hand, his back still turned to her.

“I know.” Sakura sighed, straightened her clothes and jumped to the trees. She could feel him, now that she tried, just behind her at a polite distance.

“Why do this for me?” She asked once she had reached the river.

“Actions do not always require a reason Sakura San.” Tobirama pulled a spare shirt and pants from his storage scroll that he always kept on his person for emergencies and laid them on a rock by the swiftly moving water. “I won’t be far.”

Sakura watched him walk away, into the forest and turned to look down at the clothes he had left her. Clean clothes. Was she as dirty as she felt she was, did she look that...disheveled? She bit her bottom lip. At least she didn’t have to worry about pregnancy. One of the perks of being a medic nin.

Sakura pulled her shirt off over her head and dropped her pants to the ground around her ankles. She kicked off her underwear and unhooked her bra, wading into the cold Spring river water.

Every few minutes she would feel the gentle pulse of Tobirama chakra signature, letting her know he was nearby. She closed her eyes and ducked down into the river, bringing the water up to her nose as she allowed the current to wash away her guilt.

She needed to find a way back, she needed to go home.

A flock of noisy birds flew overhead. Sakura tilted her head back, let the current pull at her long hair as it flowed past her naked body and looked up into the sky. Maybe Tobirama could help her with that. After all, he was a master of seals and she suspected it was a very powerful seal that had brought her here and a very powerful seal that kept her here.

Them, she corrected herself. Them.

Tobirama walked slowly through the forest beside the river offering her some much needed privacy, collecting small medicinal herbs as he went.

Deceit, she had said. So it was as he had suspected. Madara Uchiha had taken advantage of her, not by rape but by deception. No doubt she had thought she was making love to the Madara that had traveled here with her and not the current one. Was that rape? He wasn’t so sure it was or it wasn’t. It was despicable, it was cowardly, but was it really wrong?

Clearly the woman thought it was. They were the same person though weren’t they?

Logically speaking he saw no fault in Madara’s actions. The woman was in shock but she wasn’t harmed. He tried to reason it out in his head. Was it the emotions involved? 

Ah, he hummed to himself, that must be it, she was upset because she thought she was having sex with one but it turned out to be the other? Presuming he was correct in his assumption that, that is what had transpired between the woman and Madara.

Personally he thought both of them were wrong for her. Personally he thought neither one of them were a good match for her. Madara was a strong adversary but he still didn’t understand what the woman saw in the spiky haired Uchiha.

Tobirama looked down at the small handful of plants he had collected. The maid was still ill, the medicine he had made her had helped her but not cured her. He needed to find a remedy and soon. He wondered, Sakura was a healer wasn’t she, she had offered him her help before perhaps…

He would ask her when she was done bathing. Perhaps she would be willing to come back to his compound with him to look at the maid. He would reciprocate of course. He would offer her a new seal he had just perfected, as payment. Perhaps she would like to see the others he was working on, give him her perspective…

Tobirama jumped up into a tree just down river from Sakura’s location to wait for her, going over a mental list of the seals he thought would be of most interest to her in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was fragmented.
> 
> I took a few days off writing for this fic and lost my rhythm. I'll re read it tonight and go from there.
> 
> Let me know if it was choppy please.


	22. Chapter 22

Water purled off her skin as she stepped out of the river. Using her shirt to dry herself she pulled Tobirama’s shirt on over her head and tied his pants up around her waist. She giggled. They were far too large for her.

“Here.” A deep voice startled her from behind. 

“I’ll just…” Tobirama bent down onto one knee and pulled the bottom of one of the pant legs up, tied it crosswise with a thin cord so that the pants wouldn’t trip her. After doing the same to her other leg he stood up and cocked his head to the side.

“The waist.” He nodded to her waist.

“I don’t have any…” Sakura began but stopped when he stepped up close to her pulling another thin cord of silk from his pocket and tying the shirt bottom up around her under arms, the loose fabric of the top flowing over the cord so it was shorter without constricting her movements. “Thank you.”

Tobirama nodded. “Now that you’re better will you consider coming back to the compound with me?”

“The Senju compound?” She asked curiously.

She did feel better, that was true. She had taken the time to think her situation over while she bathed. ...and while she still wasn’t sure how her Madara would react, she didn’t feel quite as violated as she had before her bath. They were the same man for kami’s sake… So yes, she did feel better. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be around a full compound of Senju though.

Tobirama saw her hesitation. He could feel her emotions, her intent swirling in the air between them. She was much calmer than before, but still...undecided. He wondered what she was undecided about. His ability to sense intent, strong intent such as hatred or fear was useful. He however didn’t always have the social ability to...verbally expand upon the emotions he was able to sense.

“Madara will be busy with Hashirama, he won’t even know you’re there unless you wish to speak with him. I can no longer sense your chakra signature so… the maid is still ill.” He explained his insistence.

“I found these for her but I am not confident they will help.” He held his hand out with the wilted plants he had picked for her perusal. He saw her mouth twitch. His ears began to heat up. Were they the wrong herbs? He looked down at the plants in his hand, no, they were the correct herbs to treat a stomach poison.

“You said you thought she ate something poisonous?” Sakura fingered the small plants in his hand as she considered his request.

“Yes. I gave her the black draught and it seemed to help but she is still far too ill to get out of bed and I fear she may relapse and take another turn for the worse if she doesn't regain her vigor soon.” He shoved the plants in his pouch and crossed his arms over his chest. Waiting.

Sakura looked up at him thoughtfully. He didn’t like this, asking her for help. He was fidgeting, the Lord Second was fidgeting. It was kinda cute. She smiled. 

“I would be happy to help your maid Tobirama San, as a thank you for your assistance.” She fingered the hem of his shirt she was wearing.

“You look nice.” Tobirama said gruffly before his ears turned pink again. “In my clothes.” Tobirama added in case she didn’t understand his compliment. 

He didn’t compliment people often, muchless women, but Toka told him once it was okay to compliment women...that they liked it, sometimes. He hoped now was one of those times. Tobirama jumped across the river calling to her over his shoulder.

“This way.” He sped off into the woods without looking back. If it wasn’t one of those times, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. His stomach flipped and he grit his teeth. He felt ridiculous.

Sakura blinked. Did he just...was he… She shook her head as a reserved sort of growling echoed behind her ears.

‘A second son is beneath you Sakura hime’ That increasingly familiar voice purred in her ears as she followed Tobirama. ‘No man here is good enough for you my pet’

‘Then who am I supposed to be with, a woman?’ She quipped back to the voice she had decided was the equivalent of inner, even though the voice had denied that connection.

‘No’, was the serious reply.

Sakura felt a warm wetness cover her bottom lip as she ran through the forest, she gasped out loud. Ahead of her she saw Tobirama look at her over his shoulder. She nodded to him self consciously. He turned around, appeased.

“Why do you do that?” She asked herself.

There was a long pause. ‘To feel close to you’, came the cryptic answer as they approached the Senju compound. ‘To remind you that you have other options’, the voice faded from her head as the gates of the compound opened at Tobirama’s flared chakra.

“Ah.” Hashirama clapped his hands together. “There’s Tobi, shall we go ask him if he has any suggestions about your and Sakura’s little dilemma?”

Madara frowned. Dilemma, yes, he supposed it could be called that. “I admit, I am interested to see if he has any theories.”

“Excellent.” Hashirama rose from his seat and slid the door open to his sitting room, stepping out into the hallway before Madara. 

He had sensed the slight fissure of femine energy and wondered if Madara had felt it as well. Was that the connection he had just been telling him about? He wondered briefly, if Madara had been having the same dreams he had for the last few nights. Likewise, if Sakura knew she was not only connected to Madara, but him as well.

Hashirama was surprised how open his friend had been with him, how trusting, but he supposed it made sense, given his...perspective. What provided more confidence than knowing the future. Madara had nothing to lose and everything to gain from each situation he entered here, knowing what he knew.

Sakura as well, her only disadvantage being the acute culture shock of the era. While Hashirama was sure she had a rough idea of the seemingly vast difference between men and women in her era versus the one she was in, it would do her little good when faced with a more traditional clan like the Uchiha, full force.

Hashirama only hoped Madara had prepped her enough...for the elders. He would admit though, she didn’t back down from a verbal sparing match, not even with his brother Tobirama. He smiled at the thought.

Visions of her whiteclad body came back to him from his dreams. White robes, drenched in blood. He shivered.

Two unique perspectives, two individuals with knowledge of the future, both connected to him, through time and space.

Hashirama would make sure to use this to his advantage as well. Madara was his personal road map to success, to the future, he wouldn’t let this opportunity pass him by. There was so much to do and so little time. He nearly skipped down the hall toward Tobi’s living quarters, Madara walking at a more sedate pace behind him.

Tobirama slid the door to his living quarters open. Normally he wouldn’t bring anyone into his private quarters but clearly the woman wasn’t ready to face Madara yet for whatever reason. He could feel the increasingly nervous energy surrounding her. He wasn’t going to insist she explain herself. He doubted she would anyway given her clearly stubborn personality.

“You’ll have to tell him eventually.” He said with uncharacteristic gentleness and care. “Madara Uchiha is no fool and you’re not very good at concealing your emotions.” He pointed out more logically when she looked at him with her full attention.

Sakura had been looking around his half lab , half sitting room. One long wall was covered from floor to ceiling with bookshelves packed full of both flat and rolled tomes. Another wall was divided into colored sections with different seals, formulas and what appeared to be...manuscripts were tucked into numerous little cubby holes much like a modern mailroom. She was fascinated.

Green eyes continued to survey his vibrant red. He was right. She too had come to that conclusion. “I am aware, Tobirama San, but I am not ready to have that discussion with him, just yet. As you say, and you’re correct about my inability to mask my emotional state, I need time to compose myself, to prepare myself mentaly to have that sort of discussion with someone as observant as Madara Uchiha. Please, show me what medicine you’ve given your maid so far and we will go from there.”

“In a moment. My brother comes.” He turned his head to the sliding wall door to their right. “Did you wish to…” He blinked. Where did she go?

The door to Tobirama’s private quarters slid open to reveal both his brother Hashirama and Madara Uchiha. Madara’s eyes darted around the room but when they found nothing of interest they fell back onto the younger Senju, bored.

Hashirama was no less subtle, but much more enthusiastic in his approach. Clearly, they both knew Sakura was there, somewhere. “Tobi, hope we aren’t interrupting you?”

Tobirama gave his brother an annoyed look. “You are.”

Madara narrowed his eyes at the man. Tobirama gave him stare for stare. “I was just about to make a new medicine for my maid, for Yuri.” He clarified the Uchiha’s suspicion.

Madara visibly relaxed. Interesting. 

“Ah. I see.” Hashirama turned toward Madara. “Perhaps we could come by later? Madara wished to get your input and thoughts of any ways or means for him and Sakura to return to her time together, or a way to bind his soul here, in the present, if they chose to stay among us.” Hashirama’s eyes continued to dart around the room, searching for Sakura.

Tobirama cleared his throat. His avid mind had already begun to theorize the possibilities of both. Even before his brother and Madara had voiced their desire, he had begun brainstorming theories, mostly for selfish reasons. “I see.”

“Do you?” Madara stepped further into the room, placing his hand on the back of one of Tobirama’s chairs, sending his chakra out into the room. His eyes darted to the ceiling, just above one of the bookcases. “So do I.” He said smugly.

Tobirama inclined his head to the dark haired man, a slight downturn at the corners of his mouth. This Madara was much more perceptive than his younger self, much more patient and...understanding. Something that had come with age he supposed.

“I will give your request some thought. Perhaps we should include Sakura in our discussions?” Tobirama looked up into his ceiling. “I’m sure she will wish to be present to hear what we have to say and give her own substantial opinion in the process.”

“It was my intention.” Madara’s eyes darted back to the ceiling, a small smile on his lips, a shake of his head. “It’s not something I would keep from her.”

“You would keep other things from her though?” Tobirama couldn’t resist himself.

Dark eyes looked at the younger man in amusement. Madara didn’t answer Tobirama immediately, instead he rolled his shoulders slightly, his composure calm. Eventually he sighed. “You underestimate our bond Tobirama San. In the end, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

“Perhaps.” Tobirama understood, there was no need for inquiry or elaboration. Their bond...perhaps he did underestimate it. He still didn’t understand what the woman saw in such a man, however he thought that Madara underestimated Sakura’s emotional state, much like he knew he did. The difference however, was Tobirama didn’t presume to understand how she felt, whereas Madara did.

That, would be his downfall.

Hashirama watched the exchange in detail. Noticing the smooth differences in his friend beside him from the man he used to know, from the boy he had met by the river...from the brother he recalled from his dreams. So different, all of them, yet so similar.

“How interesting.” He muttered, gaining the attention of the other men.

“What’s so interesting?” Tobirama asked his brother impatiently.

“The effect one small woman can have on so many powerful men.” Hashirama laughed out loud, nodding to the ceiling where Sakura was no doubt listening. “Come dear, whatever bothers you won’t be addressed by hiding in the ceiling.”

Sakura slid the ceiling panel back and dropped down to the floor beside Tobirama, her eyes on Madara. 

“I wasn’t hiding, more like avoiding.” She clarified. She still wasn’t sure if she was ready to speak to Madara about what had happened yet but Hashirama hadn’t given her much of a choice.

Madara watched her rise to her feet slowly, saw her shoulders stiffen at the intensity of his stare.

“Sakura.” He bowed to her from the waist.

“Madara.” Sakura smoothed her hair down over her shoulder and stood tall, her shoulders back, her chin tilted up. “I met your other self in the forest today.”

Madara’s pulse snapped in his veins. He waited.

“I thought he was you.” She swallowed as his chakra spiked in complete understanding where this conversation was going and why she was so hesitant to see him right now.

“Did you.” Madara took one step toward her, she took one step back. Tobirama resisted the urge to take a protective step toward her, surprising not only his brother who had noticed but himself.

Madara narrowed his eyes at her, his nose flaring. “Would you care to tell me why you're wearing Tobirama San’s clothes, if it was my other self you met in the forest Sakura?”

Sakura cocked her head to the side. She had forgotten that she was wearing Tobirama’s borrowed clothes. Tobirama felt her intent change from meek to bold. He smiled. There it was, she had found it, her resolve.

“Would you prefer me to be wearing other Madara’s clothes?” She countered hotly.

“I prefer you naked, since you ask, however it would be terribly inappropriate considering our present company.” Madara shot back just as quickly. 

Hashirama laughed out loud again, clapping his hands in delight. “I don’t mind.”

Tobirama face palmed. “Idiot.”

Madara smirked at Sakura’s surprised expression. 

So, he thought to himself, she had expected him to be angry with her. Well he wasn’t, he knew it was only a matter of time before his other self made a physical move on her. In fact, he was surprised it had taken him this long to resist her. It could only mean one thing, his other self was starting to have feelings for the woman. Just as he had expected. He sighed. They needed to have a talk.

...but for now, Madara laughed with Hashirama. He had always been good at lightening his mood in the more serious situations, whether he was Indra, Madara or Sasuke...it had always been like this, only now, he had finally learned to appreciate it.


	23. Chapter 23

“You expected it. You knew he would act like you and…” Anger welled up within Sakura’s chest. “I felt so guilty.” She looked down at her feet.

“I did warn you love.” Madara watched her with pride. She had felt so guilty that she hadn’t known how to tell him, so guilty that she had tried to avoid him. He was both pleased with the depth of her feelings and annoyed at the same time. He didn’t want her first instinct to be to hide things from him.

As though she could read his mind she spoke again. “I was going to tell you, just not with so many others listening in.” She waved her hand at Tobirama and Hashirama. “I was waiting for the right moment, I needed to give it more thought.” She explained.

“You’re not upset?” She asked him curiously. “I would have thought you would be more upset that another man had touched me.”

Tobirama and his brother faded to the back of the room, giving the two lovers a bit of privacy.

“Another man.” Madara rolled the words around in his head. “That’s not really the case here though is it?”

“No.” She agreed. Good, they were thinking along the same lines.

“If it were truly another man, such as Tobirama San.” Madara waved a hand toward the younger Senju who grit his teeth in response to the clear threat. “I would simply kill both of you and...move on.” Madra’s dark eyes bore into Sakura’s light green.

“However, that is not the case is it dear?” His voice was calm and placid, but his eyes were not. They raged and stormed, sparking with the dark promise of retribution if she strayed.

“I thought he was you.” Sakura lifted her chin to his challenge again, her back straight. “When I realized he wasn’t you, this you.” She nodded to him. “I pushed him from me and left him immediately.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“While our ideas of a romantic relationship may vary due to our...time period difference, we agree that while we are together, there can be no one else, correct?” She wanted this clarified. She had been thinking of it, worrying about it since they had arrived in this time period. Here in this time, women were loyal, but men were not and it was a well accepted variance.

While a woman had one lover, husband, master, a man could have many women, wives and concubines. She wanted it clear to him, she would accept none of that. The only woman in his life, would be her.

Madara smiled a toothy smile. “Feeling a bit territorial are we my dear?” He was pleased, but he had to add… “While wearing another man’s clothes?”

“I told him I loved him, when I thought it was you.” She countered.

“Did you.” He asked, his fingers twitching at his side.

She nodded. Set and match, she told the voice in her head who snickered in amusement. Madara’s eyes flicked to the other end of the room where Tobirama’s stony face revealed nothing and everything he needed to know, while Hashirama’s face was beat red, his ears flapping. 

Madara stepped quickly toward Sakura, bent his head to hers and rested his forehead against her Yin seal.

“Allow me to reciprocate.” He kissed her quickly. “Later.”

Sakura’s cheeks flushed with gratitude and love. “I would like that.” She nodded and smiled a beautiful smile up at him, her eyes shining and moist. “Promise?”

“Promise.” Madara pulled her into a tight embrace then let her go abruptly, turning to Tobirama. “Thank you for clothing Sakura Tobirama San, I’ll not ask why it was needed. I trust you won’t be offended if I get her some more suitable clothing?”

Tobirama wasn’t a fool. He knew it wasn’t a request, but inclined his head nevertheless, for what else could he do in such an awkward situation. “Of course.”

“Excellent, shall we Hashirama?” Madara walked to the door of the room and slid it open, looking back over at his friend expectantly.

“Uh, yes of course. What are we doing?” Hashirama looked from Sakura to Tobirama, then back to Madara.

“You will accompany me to the market. Sakura is in need of some clothes.” Madara raised a brow at his friend.

“Of course!” Hashirama smiled broadly, taking the hint and walking quickly to join Madara at the door. “See you later Tobi, Sakura chan!” He waved to them, then slipped out the door after Madara.

Sakura watched the door close behind them and took in a deep breath through her mouth letting it out slowly through her nose. Tobirama stood beside her looking down at her. She was loyal. 

“You were really that worried?” He asked her to confirm his own assumption.

“Yes.” She looked up at him. “Who wouldn’t be?”

“Most.” He said cryptically, then embellished when she gave him a dirty look. 

“Most wouldn’t have given it a second thought. As possessive of a man Madara Uchiha is, he considers himself and the current Madara to be one person and they are. If you are...intimate with him, it isn’t considered infidelity.”

“That isn’t the only reason you were worried though was it.” It just dawned on him as he watched her bite her lip. “You’re worried about what it will do to the future. Do you think he’ll remember you from now, then, in the future?” He looked down at the top of her pink head. He understood now. It wasn’t so much the question of faithfulness that worried her but the ripple effect it may have caused.

“Having relations with him wouldn’t change the basic fact that he would still remember you, Sakura san, intimately or not.” Tobirama pointed out.

Sakura nodded without a word, without looking up at him.

“It is true, I don’t know Madara Uchiha as well as my brother does but I can see the small differences between the two Madara’s.” He paused thinking over his next words. “Consider this Sakura San, the Madara you know, the one you’ve spent the most time with, is the man the current Madara will become. With you here and with the information of the future you’ve brought with you, I see no reason why the younger Madara can not become the man you love now...sooner.”

She had considered that. “That’s the problem though.”

Tobirama failed to see the issue. “What is?”

“One can not exist in the same time frame as the other. It’s impossible isn’t it? There must be repercussions, we just don’t know what they are. We need to go back to our own time, but even that has its own dangers. We’ve changed so much since we’ve been here, who knows what the future holds now.” She was conflicted.

“Who knows what world we will be going back to.” She continued to bite her bottom lip.

‘It doesn’t matter’, the voice in her head tried to reassure her. ‘You worry for nothing’, soft hands pet the side of her face, her cheeks moving down her neck. Sakura shook the feeling away.

“I can’t decide what is best. For us to stay or for us to go back to where we came from.” She finally looked up at Tobirama, her eyes sad.

“A reasonable fear.” He nodded. “Come, let’s see what there is to do about Yuri. I need to give your situation some more thought. I don’t want to give you half thoughts, assumptions or theories.”

He saw her shoulders sag. She had expected more from him. He could tell she was disappointed. 

“Come.” His hand dropped to her lower back, guiding her from the room and down the hall toward the servant’s corridor that connected to the main house. 

Izuna’s puzzled eyes followed his brother’s agitated pacing back and forth and back and forth as he paced unceasingly before him in their library. Izuna’s book, long forgotten in his lap, rested against his thigh as his brother muttered nonsense to himself.

“Are you going to tell me what happened or should I call in a translator to decode your mumbling Madara?” Izuna was irritated. He’d never seen his brother so restless.

“It’s nothing.” Madara replied.

“Does it have to do with a certain pink haired kunoichi?” Izuna teased, his eyes glinting as his brother growled at him. “It does! Tell me what happened? Did you get to speak to her alone as you had planned? What did she tell you of the future?” Izuna asked his brother excitedly.

Izuna had wanted to go with his brother to speak to the woman but his brother had refused his request, telling him it was best if he went alone, that the woman would feel less threatened. Izuna disagreed but he never argued with his brother. He respected him too much and he was sure Madara had his reasons for wanting to speak to the woman alone.

“We, didn’t talk much.” Madara stopped and looked out the window.

“You didn’t? I thought that...oh.” Izuna watched his brother exhale deeply. “Oh! Was she good?” Izuna grinned in anticipation.

Madara shot him a dirty look. “It...wasn’t like that Izuna. She is...different.”

Izuna blinked. Madara had never held back about any of his sexual conquests before. This meant something. “So, you didn’t talk about the future at all?”

“We talked, just not a lot. That doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything important though.” Madara said slowly. “My future...without you was, desperate. I understand now, why I did the things they said I did as unimaginable as it seemed. I think I understand now.”

“There was no deceit in her voice, in her touch when she touched me.” Madara was almost whispering now. “When she told me she loved me.”

He was ashamed, Izuna realized with a shock. His brother was ashamed at what he had done. 

Silence filled the void of conversation while the two Uchiha brothers either sat or stood motionless together. Izuna cleared his throat.

“Your smile has changed you know.” He began. “It’s because of her.” He said with conviction.

“You need to tell her.” Izuna rose to his feet and set his book down on the table in front of him.

“Tell her?” Madara looked up at his brother. “Tell her what?”

“How you feel of course.” Izuna walked out of the room to leave his brother to his thoughts. “That you have feelings for her.”

“I don’t have feelings for her!.” Madara muttered under his breath and began pacing the library once more.

“Sure you don’t.” Izuna rose to his feet. “Don’t wear a hole in the floor okay? I’ll be back later.” Izuna left his brother to think alone about all the feelings...he didn’t have for the pink haired enigma in his life.

Hashirama eyed his friend warily as they walked leisurely through the market. “Are you alright?” He inquired.

Madara might have acted like he didn’t mind that Sakura had been intimate with his other self but Hashirama knew better, he knew him better than she did and could see that he was much more angry over the situation than he had let on.

“Of course I am Hashirama. What was I supposed to do, make her feel worse than she already did? She was hiding in the ceiling from me for kami’s sake.”

“Hum.” Hashirama smiled. “Rather flattering though if you think about it.”

Madara rolled his eyes. “It is not. She shouldn’t hide things from me. She should have come to me, not your brother.”

“Is that what you’re really upset about?” Hashirama asked him curiously. It was so nice to be able to talk to Madara like this without him exploding or yelling at him like before. “That some one else comforted her?”

“Yes.” Madara grit out. “She should have come to me, we were growing so close and now…”

“Let things settle Madara. Women are different from men.” He smiled at his friend’s scoffing tone.

“I know that.” Madara snapped back.

“What I mean is, she felt guilty and rightfully so. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a woman like that.” Hashirama added. “She loves you Madara.” His grin was wide and bright.

“You handled it well.” Hashirama’s voice was low and serious. “Much better than the current you would have.” He pointed out.

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Madara admitted. “I’m worried what he will do to her if we, I continue our relationship. I never liked to share. I was a rather spoiled child you may recall?” Madara smirked.

“Yes. A spoiled Uchiha brat who couldn’t skip a stone across a river to save his life.” Hashirama tilted his head back to the warm sun ignoring Madara’s snorting as they entered the market over the rise.

“Come Hashirama, let’s get Sakura some clothes and get back to your compound. I don’t want to leave her with your brother more than necessary.” Madara quickened his pace.

“Worried about Tobirama’s influence are we?” Hashirama teased. “I always knew you’d be the jealous type. You Uchiha and your ownership tendencies. A word of warning though. A woman like Sakura, can’t be owned.”

“More like I’m worried Sakura will pummel your little brother into the ground. She’s a stubborn woman you know and your brother doesn’t pull his punches, or his words.” Madara grinned ignoring the jab about his familial tendencies.

“True, true...but I think you’ll find their arguments to be purely academic.” Hashirama picked up a bolt of fine silk, fingering it between his thumb and finger. “What about this? It’s green, like her eyes.”

Madara looked at the soft silk. Her eyes. “Yes.” He needed to tell someone, if something were to happen to him…he laid his hand over his heart.

“About Sakura’s eyes Hashirama…”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure the last few chapters had some errors, I'll go back and correct them later. Since I really only have the week ends to write now...uh mainly Saturday, I wanted to get as much written as possible.

Tobirama watched Sakura closely, his eyes following the green chakra encased hands as they moved over Yuri, his maid. He had been wary to let her lay hands on his maid even though he had asked for her help, he hadn’t realized she would be using her chakra to diagnose her patient as she called Yuri.

Sakura had patiently explained the process to him before she began. The way she spoke, clipped and precise told him she had given this spiel to many before him. A doctor she called herself. A woman doctor. He continued to marvel at the different social status of their times.

In the short time he had spent with her today, he had learned more about her than he had in the last two meetings. She had worked at a hospital, ran it after her shisou’s passing, right before taking up her role as Hokage. A new role he was to understand as she continued to tell him of her trials and her joys.

He listened intently, recording her voice to memory, her words to the furthest reaches of his brain for future use. She was so much more than he had even begun to suspect. It worried him that she required little prompting to share the more intimate details of her life with him. He wondered if it was because she had already seen him as an ally, before they had even met...because he too had been a Hokage, like her.

She told him about her genin days, what a genin was and that he had been the one to come up with Konoha’s ranking system, to implement it and set the groundwork for most of the policies that were in use in her time, long after his passing. She had refused to tell him how he had died and he hadn’t pressed her, knowing she wouldn’t cave.

It was a bit unnerving speaking with someone who knew so much about you without you telling them, what you did, would do, what you would accomplish...how you died...the mistakes you would make. Your flaws.

She never said but he could tell there was something, something he had done that she disapproved of, something that had resulted in tragedy. She didn’t seem to blame him for it, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes when he had asked her about it either. Perhaps in time, she would reveal her worries to him about it, whatever it might be.

Here, in her element, her confidence that had been lost that morning surfaced and she began to speak and move more like the woman he had met in the desert on the borders. The fragile woman he had found disheveled in the forest was no more. 

Tobirama smiled internally. The look in her eyes when he had found her had made him want to protect her, but the look in her eye now as she moved her chakra over Yuri, pulled only admiration from his heart for her.

Clearly, she knew what she was doing.

“Here.” She murmured to herself, her hands stopping over the woman’s abdomen. “I’ve found it. It isn’t poison Tobirama san, it’s an inflamed appendix.” She smiled up at him.

“Inflamed appendix?” He looked from Sakura’s face down to Yuri’s covered abdomen. “What is an appendix?”

“Oh. I forgot.” Sakura let the chakra fizzel and fade from her palms as she sat back on her heels beside Yuri. “It’s an organ that we no longer use, but usually causes little harm so it is left in our bodies after birth, only to be removed if it bursts or becomes inflamed like Yuri’s. When agitated it causes nausea, pain and fever.” She explained.

“Remove it? It has to be removed?” Tobirama’s face was grim. “I suppose there is no help for it then. “I’ll go tell her father to prepare for her funeral.” Tobirama rose to his feet.

“Funeral?” Sakura looked up at the Senju confused. “Why the hell would he need to do that? It will just take a moment, it’s a simple procedure Tobirama San.”

“The infection though, she will most likely die from the infection. I’ll not give her father false hope Sakura san.” He started to walk toward the door but Sakura called him back with her laughter.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to let her die.” Sakura formed a chakra scalpel in her right hand and knocked Yuri out with her left, lifted Yuri’s shirt up and without warning sliced into the lower right side of the maid, pulled the appendix out, cut it with practiced precision, dropped the bloody mass into the mat beside her and then used her healing chakra to seal the cut organ, and then the topical wound as though nothing had ever happened.

“See? All done. Give her two or three days of rest and she will be up and on her feet ready to cook and clean for you again in now time.” Sakura smiled up at Tobirama. His face was blank with shock. “Tobirama San?”

Sakura gasped and cried out in pain as Tobirama grabbed her and threw her up against the wall of the servant quarters. “What the hell did you do to her!”

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “Exactly what I told you I would do Tobirama San. I just saved her life. Look for yourself.” She nodded toward the mat where Yuri had begun to stir. 

“I removed the fever from her body with my chakra while diagnosing her and promoted healing cells after closing her wound. The only thing to worry about now is to make sure she stays in bed for the next two days. Even if she feels completely fine, her internal wounds still need a day or two to heal completely. My chakra can only do so much you understand.” She shrugged out of his grasp.

“You’re welcome.” Sakura raised a pink bow to the man.

Tobirama glared at her, his expression dark. “You cut her without warning. Without permission.”

“You asked me to heal her and I did.” Sakura shot back.

Tobirama looked from Sakura to Yuri who was blinking and moving her hands over her abdomen.

“Yuri San.” Tobirama spoke sharply making the maid jump.

“Tobirama sama!” Yuri sat up abruptly and folded into a prostate display, her head to the floor, her arms out in front of her. “Forgive me Tobirama Sama, I did not know you were here.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. Was this what he was used to? No wonder all the men in this time were such pigs she shook her head.

“How do you feel?” Tobirama ignored her apology and her sputtering.

“I feel fine. Very well actually, thank you Tobirama Sama for healing me.” Yuri pressed her face into the floor.

Sakura sighed. “He didn’t heal you, I did. I removed your appendix. It was inflamed, it would have burst without care and you would have died.” 

Sakura picked up the bloodied appendix and set it in a cup on the counter to be removed later. “Stay in bed for the next two days and drink lots of water. Eat only soup or bread pudding until the third day. You will feel fine and want to get out of bed sooner, but don’t.”

Yuri remained silent while Sakura spoke.

Sakura sighed again. “Did you hear me Yuri chan?”

Yuri’s head rose an inch, her face turning to Tobirama who nodded his permission.

“Yes mam. I heard you, thank you very much for your efforts on my behalf. I did not deserve your attention.” Yuri pressed her head back into the mat.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you deserve my attention. I’m a doctor and you needed me.” Sakura leaned over and pulled the woman up by her arms forcefully. “...and don’t bow to me like that, it’s embarrassing.” Sakura smiled kindly at the woman.

“...but but but.” Yuri stuttered looking at Tobirama in fear.

Tobirama shrugged. He didn’t care, not really. He did find it unusual that Sakura seemed to demand the respect of shinobi but cared little for the respect from servants. An unusual woman.

“Rest Yuri. I’ll send your mother in later to look after you.” Tobirama watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye. “Do as Sakura San says and stay in bed.” He commanded.

“Yes Tobirama sama, I will. Thank you Sakura sama. Thank you very much for helping me.” Yuri bowed again low to Tobirama and Sakura.

“It was nothing.” Sakura waved her thanks away good naturedly.

“That was far from nothing.” Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest. “Why down play your talents to us?”

“I did nothing of the sort Tobirama San.” Sakura said defensively, fully aware of the maid’s wide eyes upon her. “You men assume too much, it’s not my fault you undervalued my words.” She smirked, crossing her own arms over her chest.

Yuri closed her eyes, she didn’t want any part of this conversation. If she closed her eyes, maybe they would think she was asleep, though, she doubted she was fooling either one of them. She cracked her eye open a bit and looked the woman over. Modesty didn’t suit her. Yuri could tell just by looking at her, she was...special.

She could tell by the way Tobirama Sama looked at the woman...he thought so too.

Hashirama and Madara walked back to the Senju compound in silence. Madara had told him about their war in greater detail than Sakura had originally told them when she had delivered it like a story to himself, Tobirama, the other Madara and Izuna San. He was beside himself.

“We fought and I killed you?” Hashirama didn’t believe and yet...why would Madara lie to him about such a thing. If anything he would have lied and said he Madara, had killed him. This truly was a different Madara. 

...and Hashirama had never known Madara to lie, ever. If they didn’t wish to tell one another things, they simply didn’t. There was no deceit between them, there never had been.

“Yes. In Sakura’s time it is called ‘The Valley of the End’, because it is where we had our final battle.” Madara’s hands were tucked into his shirt, one over his increasingly aching heart.

“I've made so many mistakes Hashirama. Forgive me old friend, for being so blind and consumed with my own grief and hatred that I...set out to ruin everything we had worked for, wished for as children.” Madara’s heart clenched, pain shot down his right side.

“There is nothing to forgive. This is a different time, a second chance. The crimes you ask forgiveness for will never have been committed.” Hashirama’s smile was intentionally light. “Old friend.”

Madara nodded his silent thanks and they continued to walk, each man caught up in their own thoughts.

“So this Kaguya, our...mother…” Hashirama’s voice cracked and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He had shared his dreams with Madara and Madara had told him of the few he had, of Sakura.

“That makes Sakura our...sister?” His flush deepened as he looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye.

“Does that really matter. It isn’t as though we are really related by blood ties anymore. That isn’t how reincarnations work you know.” Madara countered, he knew where Hashirama was going with this and he didn’t like it. “We aren’t brothers either.” He said stiffly.

Hashirama stopped walking, waited for Madara to stop as well and told him. “I’ve always thought of you as my brother Madara. From the very first time we met and skipped stones across the river together. You were always like a brother to me. Did you not feel the connection?”

“I did.” Madara turned and continued walking. He wanted to get back to Sakura. For many reasons.

“...and Sakura chan, there is a connection there as well isn’t there. I had a dream, a blonde haired boy with blue eyes...it was me wasn’t it?” Hashirama asked Madara.

“Naruto Uzumaki, the nine tailed jinchuuriki.” Madara chuckled at the memory. “You were annoying as hell even as that boy Hashirama.”

“Jinchuriki? The nine tailed demon fox?” He stuttered. “How did...why?”

Madara sighed. Now was as good of a time as any he supposed. Using Sakura’s method of relaying important information he smirked, looked at Hashirama with amused eyes, and began… 

“Many years from now, after our village is built, after our last battle a bleak shadow of unrest will fall upon the five great nations... so will begin the first great shinobi war. A war that will only come to a close because of you and the immense power you will capture in the form of the great tailed beasts. Their hosts will forever be shunned and labled, as jinchuriki.”

“Me?” Hashirama gasped.

“It will be the worst mistake you’ll ever make, throwing the world into generations of prejudice, jealousy and hatred.” Madara told a horrified Hashirama. “Not to worry though. Your reincarnation Naruto Uzumaki will eventually right that wrong, your ignorance, and unite the tailed beasts as well as all five of the great shinobi nations and bring ultimate peace to the world, by defeating me.”

Hashirma blinked. “Tell me Madara, so that I too, may redeem myself.”

“I never thought I would be the one to say such a thing but…” He adjusted his hands in his sleeves. “The tailed beasts from the time of the Sage of Six Paths aren’t weapons but...friends. At least, they can be. It really would be best to speak to Sakura about this. She knows more about it than I do.” Madara was clearly a bit uncomfortable speaking to him about it. He wondered why.

“She does? Oh yes, of course she was the Hokage.” Hashirama nodded wisely.

“No, that’s not why.” Madara chuckled. Hashirama was going to love this. 

“It’s not? Then why?” Hashirama asked him curiously.

“She was your best friend and teammate. Your reincarnation Naruto Uzumaki, my reincarnation Sasuke Uchiha and herself, Sakura Haruno were all friends, best friends in fact.” Madara smiled. Sakura had spent the whole of one of their evenings in the dead world beguiling him with stories of her youth. Stories of fun and laughter, sadness and betrayal all revolving around the three of them.

“She had a crush on me, even then did I tell you Hashirama?” Madara smirked. “She has a thing for Uchiha.”

“I’ll believe it when I hear it from her.” Hashirama teased his friend.

They continued on in companionable silence for a few more miles.

“Madara.” Hashirama stopped his friend with a hand to his elbow, turning him around to face him. “You’re bleeding.”

Hashirama touched two fingers gingerly against the dark wet, blood soaked fabric of Madara’s shirt, pulling two bright red fingers away in illustration holding them up for Madara’s inspection.

Madara frowned. “I’m not wounded.” His voice sounded unsure even to himself. He placed his hand over his heart again as pain shot through his chest from front to back. “Ungh.”

Hashirama’s eyes went wide as Madara’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground, blood soaking through the front and back of his shirt.

“Sakura.” Madara gasped. “Hashirama, get me to her, quickly. She can…” He coughed up a copious amount of blood. “...she can heal me.”

Without hesitation Hashirama picked his friend up and hoisted him gently over his shoulder, jumping up into the trees and racing back to the Senju compound as quickly as his feet would carry them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me...~


	25. Chapter 25

“Sakura chan!” Hashirama’s voice cut through the wooden beams of the Senju’s main house. “Sakura! Please!” He called out for her again, his voice desperate.

Several Senju stopped and watched as Hashirama shifted Madara’s weight in his arms.

Madara grunted as Hashirama laid him down on the wide planked porch of his home. He could feel her, not her chakra, not her presence but the vibration in the flooring as she ran to the front of the house following the sound of Hashirama’s panicked plea.

“Madara!” He heard her gasp.

Thump Thump

He reached out for her hand. 

She knocked his hand away. “I need to diagnose you idiot.” She grit out between her teeth. 

“Hashirama tell me what happened.” She demanded as her hands moved over Madara’s body stopping over his chest where most of the blood had gathered and pooled underneath him.

Madara snorted, of course she wouldn’t be swayed by sentimentality.

“He was fine, he complained of being ill, but he seemed fine and then I noticed that he was bleeding. He collapsed. He told me to take him to you, that you would heal him. You can, can't you?” Hashirama was dancing from one foot to the other beside her fretfully.

“Normally I would say yes but this wound is…” Sakura poured more of her chakra into Madara seeking out the most damaged tissue and gasped in shock. “Oh kami.” She looked up at Hashirama.

“Did he tell you? How he managed to live so long and how he managed to wage war against five of the greatest shinobi nations, Hashirama San?” She asked him, her voice hard, her hands glowing over Madara’s chest.

Hashirama nodded. “He told me about many things on our way back to the compound, before he fell ill.” He met her eyes with a knowing glint.

“Right.” She grit her teeth. Here goes nothing. “This is only a guess but I think I’m right.” She warned him.

“Your cells that he took from you at the battle, the battle that created The Valley of the End, are dying.” Sakura gripped the blood soaked fabric of Madara’s shirt and ripped it down the front to reveal a gaping hole in his chest on the left. “There.”

Sakura pointed to the left side of Madara’s chest where he had infused Hashirama’s flesh into the fatal wound Hashirama had inflicted upon him in the valley of the end. “I think...because we’re here and that battle will no longer take place...the flesh is evaporating and now…”

“He stole your flesh?” Tobirama’s deep voice broke through her rapid thoughts like a knife. “Foul monster. Despicable!”

Sakura turned her face up to Tobirama and glared at him. “Do not give your opinion on things you have no understanding of Tobirama San. You don’t know the whole story.”

“Stop protecting that monster!” Tobirama growled back. He had enough of this, of her insane forgiveness. He couldn’t comprehend it and it infuriated him.

“Look asshole…” Sakura began.

“Sakura.” Madara’s hand came up to pull her back down beside him. “Leave him be and heal the wound if you can. I’ve lost too much blood already, I don’t...think I have much longer.”

“Madara.” Sakura pushed back the tears from her eyes that were forming in the corners. “I don’t know if I can. This isn’t a regular wound. Time has taken back what was never meant to be yours.” She tried to explain it to him.

“If I fail, you’ll...you’ll…” Her bottom lip quivered. They had been through so much together. She was just starting to really get to know him, she had just realized how much she loved him.

“I understand. Do you mean to tell me you can not heal or close the wound at all?” He was starting to get cold from the blood loss.

“I’ll try of course but without a viable substitute or the real thing I don’t know if I can…” She cried.

“I’ll give him more flesh. You said this is a result of him taking my flesh and fusing it with his body. If the flesh from before is deteriorating then it only needs to be replaced correct?” Hashirama looked down at the pained look in Madara’s eye to the tears dropping from Sakura’s lashes and smiled. “An easy remedy yes?”

“Easier said than done, but maybe.” Sakura tapped her fingers to her lips thinking over the process as she understood it unaware of the less enthusiastic crowd of Senju that had gathered around them.

“Why would we save him. We didn’t strike him down. If we let him die it doesn’t break our treaty.” A nameless Senju called out from the crowd. “One less Uchiha to worry about I say.”

“Yes, I agree. By his own admission he stole Hashirama Sama’s flesh. Why save a thief? Let the Uchiha dog die, it’s more than he deserves!” Another joined in motivated by the first heckler’s success. “Tobirama Sama is right, he’s foul, he’s a monster!”

A mob, that’s what this was turning into. Sakura, looked at the angry faces surrounding them. “Hashirama.”

“Right.” He understood. “Let’s get him into the house, this shouldn’t be a public display.” He clapped his hands together.

“Tobi, get his feet will you?” He asked his brother who didn’t move.

“Tobirama.” Hashirama’s voice was stern. “Whatever he is now, he is not the same man, get his feet and help me take him into the house. My room will suffice.”

Tobirama bent down automatically avoiding Sakura’s narrowed eye and picked up Madara’s feet. Sakura followed, closing the door to the home behind them, shutting out the growing mob.

Once Madara was laid comfortably in Hashirama’s bed Sakura turned to Hashirama, one glowing hand on Madara’s chest over the exposed hole. The flesh was disintegrating before their eyes at an increasingly alarming pace. Her chakra was slowing the deterioration but it wasn’t enough. The wound was nearly twice the size as it had been when Hashirama had brought him back to the compound.

“Hashirama San, please there is no time. I will regenerate your flesh after I imposeed it into his chest cavity.” She assured him.

“No need Sakura. Did they not document my incredible self regenerative prowess to history?” He winked at her.

“They did, I only wished to reassure you, not having seen it first hand.” She tried to smile at him but it failed miserably.

“Do not worry Sakura San. Madara trusts you, he knows you can do this.” With that final boost of encouragement he pulled a kunai from his waist and sliced open his arm, carved out a wide chunk of flesh and handed it to her like a present. He had barely even flinched. She blinked.

‘So selfless’, the voice in her head hummed in admiration. ‘Perhaps there is something to being weak’, it laughed.

‘Weak, that is not weakness, kindness is strength’, Sakura corrected her inner voice.

‘If you say so’, a slight squeeze to her shoulders and the presence was gone leaving her to concentrate on her task.

Sakura took the offered flesh and pressed it into Madara’s wound, fusing the flesh together on a cellular level with her intensified chakra. Slowly, irritatingly slow the cells began to meld together creating more and more healthy functioning ones. Internally, she sighed in relief, but the job was far from over. This only meant...that it would work.

“It’s going to be okay.” She bent over and whispered in Madara’s ear. “I won’t let you die. It’s going to be okay.”

“I never doubted you for a moment my dear.” His voice was weak but it was heard, it was there and so was he. So were they.

Tears slipped from her eyes before she knew she was crying. A warm hand gently wiped them away. Sakura blinked in surprise. It wasn’t Madara’s hand but Hashirama’s who had wiped her tears away. His touch left a warmth over her skin, a tingling like when Madara had first touched her, first kissed her, spreading out through the rest of her face and down her neck.

Ah...yes. Of course.

“Hashirama san.” Sakura blinked the rest of the moisture from her eyes.

“Hashirama, yes.” He smiled at her. “Or you may call me Asura if you prefer hime?” He laughed. She wasn’t surprised at his words. She knew, just as he had suspected.

“It seems there is still more that needs to be said between us.” She murmured into her shoulder as she wiped the final tear from her eye. “Let it wait though, after I am sure Madara will survive this unorthodox treatment.”

“As you wish. Sister.” Hashirama sat back on his heels beside his bed that contained his best friend and brother.

Sakura looked up at Hashirama surprised by the evident warmth in his voice. He was pleased, happy she realized at the thought of having her as a sister. She blushed. It was kinda like having Naruto back, in a small way. He was Naruto, in a way...if you broke the timeline down there really wasn’t much of a difference. It was a small comfort to her.

‘You are not his sister’, the agitated voice broke her concentration. 

Madara grunted in pain as her chakra fluctuated.

“Sorry.” Sakura smoothed her chakra out once more, annoyed at the intrusion.

‘Does it really matter?’, she growled at the voice who had ruined her happy thoughts.

‘You are their aunt if anything’, the voice sang more calmly in her head, as though not to distract her again.

“It doesn’t matter.” She whispered to herself.

“What doesn’t matter?” Tobirama asked her from the other side of the bed.

She had almost forgotten he was there.

“Nothing. I’m just talking to myself.” Sakura ignored his suspicious glare.

Several hours later of concentrated cellular reconstruction, had left Sakura exhausted, but Madara stable and recuperating in Hashirama’s bed. With little alternative they had laid Sakura to rest in Tobirama’s bed after she had worn herself out healing Madara.

She was asleep before Tobirama had drawn the blanket up to her chin.

Tobirama sat beside her watching her sleep, a controlled and emotionless expression on his stoic face. He could hear his brother's foot fall approaching his door and stiffened his back. 

Hashirama slid Tobirama’s door open after knocking lightly and sat down beside his brother to look down at Sakura while she slept.

“She’s incredible isn’t she Tobi?” Hashirama said fondly, reaching a hand out to brush the hair from Sakura’s face.

Tobirama’s hand shot out to grip his brother by the wrist. “Don’t touch her. She’s sleeping and is unaware of our presence.”

Hashirama stilled. “Tobi.” His voice was gentle. “She is in love with Madara, surely after what just happened, after seeing her face while she closed my flesh into his wound...you must see the depth of their connection Tobi.”

“It doesn’t matter. It is inappropriate for you to touch her while she sleeps.” Tobirama knew how he must sound but he didn’t care. There were more important things to address. “You called her sister.”

Brown eyes crinkled as Hashirama smiled. “Do you believe in reincarnation Tobi?”

Tobirama scoffed. “Now is not the time to regale me with your ridiculous fantasies Hashirama. I thought you stopped having those pointless dreams when we were kids.”

“Dreams aren’t pointless Tobi and just because I stopped telling you about them, doesn’t mean I stopped having them.” Hashirama pointed out.

“Let me tell you a story, Tobi, about how some dreams are really windows into your past lives.” Hashirama began his tale, his soft brown eyes on his sister’s chest and it rose and fell, peacefully before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check updated tags for the next chapter


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for the weekend. I'll try to write more over the week but no promises.

_”Has she finished her training?” Isshiki asked the maid._

_“Yes Isshiki Sama. Sakura Sama is ready for her first mission.” The woman replied, head bowed low._

_“Good. Let’s hope she does better than her worthless mother. She is half mine, she should do just fine.” There was a hint of pride in Isshiki’s voice that no one had ever heard before. “You’re dismissed. Bring her to me, then leave us alone.”_

_The maid scurried from his presence to bring Sakura to her father._

_“Daughter.” Isshiki looked down at Sakura who was kneeling on the floor below his raised platform, her feet tucked under her, her face composed and blank. His eyes followed the slope of her slender neck down to the collar of her kimono._

_“Father.” Sakura replied with the same voided tone of indifference he had used with her._

_“Are you ready for your first mission to Earth?” He asked her. His lips barely moved as he spoke to her._

_“I am.”_

_“You understand your objective?” He inquired, shifting his weight in his seat._

_“I do.”_

_“Do not make the same mistake as your mother Sakura. You are more valuable to me than she was.” He warned. “More valuable to our line of succession.”_

_“I am aware. Father.” He had told her many times over the years how worthless her mother had been, how she had only been used to make her, his daughter._

_“I understand you are aware of her failure, but are you aware of her deceit?” He watched her carefully._

_“Deceit?” Sakura was careful in her tone, in her pulse. She had been anticipating this, waited for this… “I know of no deceit on mother’s part. I only know that something happened to her on her last mission to Earth that resulted in both failure of the mission and her termination.”_

_Isshiki’s cold eyes passed over his daughter. He found no tell tale signs of deception. “Precisely. Do not fail me, like your mother did.”_

_“I will not fail you father.” Sakura bowed her head low to the ground, barely touching the smooth ceramic surface of the lesser platform._

_Isshiki watched Sakura’s pink hair fall forward over her shoulders down to the floor, the silken locks shining in the candlelight that lit the hall they were in. Many times he had cradled her head against his chest and wrapped those silky strands in his fist, resisting the urge to force her to her knees._

_“When you return, we will celebrate your success with marriage. You will marry Lord Wumato’s eldest son. A privileged marriage that I have worked hard to acquire for you, for our line. He comes from ancient blood, much like your own.” Isshiki stepped down from his raised platform and moved to stand in front of his daughter._

_“I understand father. Thank you.” Sakura kept her head bowed low. She could feel the familiar tension in the air as he stood eerily still looking down at her bowed form._

_“Obedient, beautiful and intelligent. You will make a good wife.” He crouched down and lifted her chin so that he could look into her green eyes. Such beautiful green eyes, so much more vibrant than her mother’s had been. “Yes, Wumato comes from a suitable ancient bloodline, however it is not as ancient as our own.”_

_Isshiki dropped Sakura’s chin and pulled his belt from around his waist. “We must ensure the next generation of untainted blood.”_

_Sakura’s eyes went wide as her father removed his clothes then reached for the ties of her kimono. “What are you doing father?”_

_“Ensuring our bloodline, do not fight me, or you’ll regret it...daughter. ” Isshiki pushed Sakura’s kimono from her shoulders, pushing her naked body to the floor before him and mounted her quickly. He entered her roughly, gripping her arms to her side. “Relax Sakura, we have all night. I can already tell, you’ll satisfy me much more than your mother did. Open your legs wider, I want to go deeper.”_

_Sakura bit her lip, her eyes scrunched up tight. She had expected his suspicion, not his betrayal. He would pay for this, they would all pay for this. For what they did to her mother and for what her father was doing to her now. She was no one’s pawn, no one’s tool to ensure the bloodline._

_She was her mother’s daughter._

White Zetsu ran his fingers through Sakura’s hair humming to himself. Her breathing had finally calmed as her subconscious moved on to more pleasant dreams. That dream, hadn’t been one of his. He hadn’t known that her father had…

‘Poor girl’, he cooed softly into her ear. ‘It seems betrayal follows you continuously. First your father, then Sasuke Uchiha. Who is left for you to truly trust but me’, warm hands cupped her face as he hovered over her sleeping form and pressed his mouth to hers.

‘I promise never to betray you. I can’t. I’m part of you’, he lay over her, his fingers tugging at the hem of her shirt, pulling it up higher and higher.

A muffled grunt from the corner of the room had Zetsu turning his head toward the white haired Senju. The man was waking, but Zetsu knew he couldn’t be seen in this form, joined as he was with Sakura’s mind and body. Only she could hear him, only she could feel him.

Zetsu smiled at the sleeping woman underneath him, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs rubbing over her nipples. Sakura moaned out in her sleep. ‘Yes, that’s it, let me make you feel good hime, let me taste you’, Zetsu lapped out against her soft skin, trailing his tongue from the top of her breast to the bottom passing over her nipple , then back up again from the bottom to the top.

He could feel her shiver under him, he relished the feeling. ‘More’, he moaned into her breasts. ‘I want more of you’, the blanket slid from Sakura’s body and Zetsu moved down to her stomach, his fingers pressing into her flesh. With his teeth he untied the drawstring of her pants. Impatiently he pushed them down around her knees. Excitedly, he inhaled her scent, the scent of her want and arousal.

Too many times he had watched the Uchiha take her from the recesses of Sakura’s mind. Too many times he touched himself at the thought that one day, it would be his turn. He knew what she liked, what made her feel good. He knew what she wanted, the words in her head she wouldn’t say out loud to her Uchiha lover. He wanted her to want him like she wanted that man.

He could have helped her. He could have helped her save Madara more quickly, much more easily but he didn’t. He loathed the man. Loathed them both. Zetsu promised mother he would guide Sakura, protect her, take care of her and he would, but those two...no. 

Tobirama shifted in his chair on the other side of his room. He had fallen asleep watching over Sakura, making sure she was okay. His back pained him from falling asleep in such an uncomfortable position. Without opening his eyes, he readjusted himself.

A breathy moan had his eyes snapping open. A gasping inhale of ragged breath had him on his feet and rushing toward Sakura, who still lay sleeping in his bed.

Tobirama’s entire face flushed as he saw her state of undress confusing as it was to him how she had managed to bunch her pants down around her ankles and pull her shirt up over her breasts in her sleep. Hastily, with his head turned he pulled her shirt back down and tucked her pants back up around her waist, tying them for her gently.

With a ragged swallow of his own he sat back on his heels and looked at her now covered body. They were alone, no one had seen, no one would accuse him of, of molesting her but kami, she had looked so beautifully vulnerable laying there exposed for him.

He flushed with desire and embarrassment. He was ashamed. No he hadn’t touched her, no he hadn’t meant to see her in a state of undress but he couldn’t deny her beauty, he was a male after all.

Tobirama pulled the blanket up and tucked it under her chin. With a careful hand he reached out and brushed the hair back from her face. Yes, he chided himself, he had told his brother not to touch her while she slept, but...he couldn’t help himself after seeing her so...closely.

Extending his chakra out and around him, he let his chin drop to his chest and folded his hands in his lap as he sat beside his bed. Hashirama had left them quite some time ago after their talk. He still wasn’t sure what to think of everything his brother had told him. He knew there were things his brother had only touched base on, refusing to go into detail when prodded, but he had told him enough for him to have a basic understanding of...everything.

Tobirama sighed. This wasn’t like his brother’s normal fanciful outbursts of grandiose illusion. This was serious and Tobirama took him seriously. As unbelievable as Hashirama’s story had been, it had been littered with truths. Undeniable truths. Sakura was here, right in front of him and knew things she shouldn’t if she were from their time. Madara was just down the hall, his personality and his own knowledge and admission of his faults from the future were both enlightening and humbling.

How could he not believe his brother. Hashirama was many things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. At first Tobirama had denied his words, had tried in vain to punch holes in his claims, to break them down into the smaller finer points and facts but each time he did it...it only cast more light onto his brother’s words, proving the validity of every one of Hashirama’s statements beyond a shadow of a doubt.

By the end of the explanation, story or whatever you wished to call it, Tobirama had no other alternative but to believe Hashirama, and he did.

Mentally exhausted, Hashirama had left him to check on Madara, leaving Tobirama to look after Sakura. Hashirama hadn’t returned, no doubt falling asleep like Tobirama had. Red curious eyes watched Sakura’s chest rise and fall with each breath she took, unaware of his scrutiny.

“It wasn’t enough that you were from the future was it?” He said to her sleeping form. “You had to be the reincarnation of Kaguya Otsutsuki’s daughter too.”

“...and my brother and Madara’s aunt.” He added, still slightly dumbfounded.

She wasn’t really thier aunt though, more like their sister right? So then her relationship with Madara was...void? Tobirama considered this line of thought for a moment. If she was Hashirama’s sister, then she was also...his sister. He frowned.

“It doesn’t matter.” He took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. “You’re a reincarnation if what my brother says is true so you’re not really their sister, or mine.”

Something moved in his peripheral, his eyes darted to the corner of the room. No...it was...Tobirama set Sakura’s hand down. What was that...it was like something had jumped from the corner of the room into...Sakura. For a moment he had felt a dark intent, loathing or hatred but it wasn’t coming from Sakura it had been…

Tobirama pulled his chakra back in and around himself then sent it out quickly in dense precise strings, searching. Nothing came back. It was as though it had disappeared, vanished, much like Sakura’s hidden chakra signature.

“Ominous.” Tobirama sat back down beside Sakura and took her hand in his again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few new things in this chapter.
> 
> I admit I've never written anything like this before, not too keen on the incest thing but uh, it seemed to fit this fic so well....so...you know
> 
> Tell me your thoughts please and as always, thank you for reading.


	27. Sakura and Indra

“It’s disturbing.” One elder spoke up from the back, his stinging voice carrying over the others. 

“Our war with the Senju cut short right before victory!” His old gnarled fist beat soundlessly against his chest.

“It’s weakness!” He shouted, getting lost in the moment, forgetting who he was speaking about.

“You think I’m weak?” The dark voice of Madara Uchiha cut through the rabble like a hot blade quelling the noise in the room as he and his younger brother Izuna entered the council room.

For three full seconds, no one breathed as Madara released the full measure of his chakra allowing it to flow out around him.

“Lord Madara.” The elder who had been speaking out so forcefully buckled under the mangekyo of their clan head. “You misunderstand me.” His voice shook. The boldness that carried him over the heads of his peers broke against the powerful chakra of his clan head.

“Did I?” Madara’s voice remained deceptively calm, pulling his chakra back in and wrapping it back around himself to release the tension in the air. “Please, explain yourself then, so I might...better understand your statement. Or should I say, accusation?” Madara lifted a perfectly manicured brow at the elder, who was now, understandably shaking visibly.

“It sounded like an accusation to me.” Izuna took his seat beside his brother in the front of the room, his chin up, his eyes narrowed on the elder who had insulted Madara. They never learned. They push and push but his brother never caved, never broke. Madara was the strongest clan head the Uchiha had ever had, the strongest in history.

The fools.

“Not an accusation, Lord Madara, Izuna Sama. We are just concerned at your abrupt change of heart. It is confusing to us. You vowed to burn the line of Senju to the ground, down to the last child, then a mere three weeks later you declare peace. It’s disturbing in it’s abruptness, that is what I meant Lord Madara.” The elder bowed from his sitting position in the back of the room with respect, his hands still shaking even if his voice did not.

“I understand your confusion but it is not the place of the counsel to question me once I’ve made a decision. Your opinion on this matter of war is not necessary because I have declared the war over.” Madara said smoothly.

“Lord Madara.” A short haired dark eyed middle aged man rose to his feet in the middle of the room and bowed respectfully. “May I address the room please?”

Madara nodded to one of his most trusted advisors. “You may.”

“Peace with the Senju, while unexpected, has already resulted in profit to the Uchiha. Merchants who would not come to the compound for fear of displeasing you my lord have begun to sprout up along the borders between our two compounds. They see your willingness to make peace with your long time rival a sign of progression and are more willing to trade with us as a result. My wife in particular is very pleased with this particular result of our newfound peace between our clans.” Toshigo Uchiha smiled at the Uchiha clan head.

“She will have a shorter distance to travel to market for the baby. We are happy to announce there will be a new addition to the Uchiha ranks.” Toshigo smiled at his clan head’s obvious surprise.

“Congratulations Toshigo. Truly.” Madara rose from his seat at the head of the room to shake the man’s hand in congratulations. “Your child will be the first of many to enjoy what I hope is a long new era of peace and prosperity for all of us.” Madara smiled sincerely at his old friend.

“Ah, yes. Thank you Lord Madara.” Toshigo stuttered.

Madara looked at the man, puzzled. Then he realized...he was smiling. Openly. Madara cleared his throat and moved back to his seat at the front of the room ignoring the eyes pressed into his back and the tingling at the base of his spine.

Izuna caught his brother’s eyes as he took his seat, and nodded to him without a word. ‘I support this, whatever this is. I support you brother, like always’, Izuna’s eyes told him. Madara was grateful.

That was the second time since that damned woman had come into his life that he had acted out of character. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked it. He wasn’t sure he hated it either though.

He wasn’t sure what he would say to her when he saw her again…

Sakura held Madara’s hand while he slept. 

She had woken up just after dawn to find Tobirama sitting upright, his chin against his chest, as he slept beside his own bed...because she occupied it.

Tobirama had blinked at her sleepily, his red eyes unfocused, when she stirred under his blankets and sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. For a moment she had just stared at him, he had looked adorable blinking at her, but then his eyes had focused and he had frowned at her.

Not knowing what else to do she smiled and wished him a good morning, excusing herself to check on Madara. Tobirama had merely nodded, his frown deepening into a slight grimace. Worried that his response meant that Madara had taken a turn for the worse she raced down the hall to Hashirama’s room as soon as Tobirama’s door slid closed behind her, throwing the door to Hashirama’s room open quickly, waking Hashirama.

After apologizing for her rudeness, she took a seat beside Madara, who lay very still in Hashirama’s bed, and ran her chakra over his chest searching for infection, or his body's rejection of the newly transplanted cells. Finding nothing amiss, she relaxed.

Hashirama had left her soon after with a nod and a promise to have breakfast sent in for her. Sakura gave him a weak smile in response. Madara ought to have woken up by now and she was worried.

Sakura ran her thumb over Madara’s knuckles repeatedly, absently as she thought of everything that had happened to them, around them since they had come here to this time. It was almost like a dream, but she was under no illusion that everything that had happened, everything she had dreamt of...wasn’t real.

Madara was real. She was real. Her affections for her were...real.

‘You thought you were in love with Sasuke too’, the voice in her head reminded her.

‘It’s isn’t the same’, she knew that now.

‘If you say so’, it sang, it’s voice fading in her silence.

“It’s isn’t. This is different.” She said to no one, the voice was gone.

When she had heard Hashirama yelling, calling out for her in that horrible voice, that near panicked voice. Her heart had dropped in her chest. She had just reached out to take a seal from Tobirama’s hand when she had heard him calling out to her.

Shortly before Hashirama had arrived back at the Senju compound with Madara slung over his shoulder, bleeding down the front and back of his shirt, she had felt a piercing pain in her heart. She knew, it had something to do with Madara.

Hashirama’s urgency had frightened her almost as much as the first time she had seen Madara standing on the cliffside, waiting arrogantly for her and her fellow kage to confront him.

Only now, instead of fearing him, she was afraid for him. Afraid to lose him.

‘He isn’t dead you know, he is only sleeping’, a bored voice came to her just behind her left ear. The voice was back.

‘I know that’, she rolled her eyes. ‘I want to make sure he’s okay’, she squeezed Madara’s hand.

‘I have to say, I’m aligned with that white haired sourpuss. I simply can not understand what you see in this man’, light fingers lifted her hair on the left side of her face, tugging on it gently.

Sakura brushed her hair back down and turned her head to the left. “If you’re only in my head, how can you do that? Really touch me, really lift my hair like that?” She asked the seemingly vacant air around her.

‘I never said I was only in your head, I said only you can hear me’, the voice cooed in her right ear, a caress to her cheek. ‘That I was a part of you, not that I was inside of you. Do you want me to be inside of you Sakura?’

“You already are, you just said…”

A deep chuckle filled the air around her.

Heavy arms fell around her neck, over her shoulders and pulled her back against a warm flattened, invisible surface hugging her. ‘The Uchiha will be fine Sakura, you need not worry. This...is not what will kill him. Even if he does die, you have another, why are you so upset?’, he didn’t understand.

“They are not the same person.” She made to turn in the ‘embrace’, to speak directly at the voice but of course, there was nothing there. Her eyes dropped down to her hand where it held onto Madara’s.

‘Not yet’, the voice warned.

“What does that mean not yet, what do you know?” She didn’t like the cryptic way the voice spoke to her. Inner had never been so vague, why was this one so...infuriatingly vaporous?

‘When they become one, there will only be one. Right now, you are correct, they are not the same person, but they will be and soon’, the voice warned her again. ‘All because of you’, it sang out gleefully, it’s laughter turning into a menacing cackle as the pressure around her neck and shoulders increased.

Sakura ignored its touch for its words. “When they become one?” 

“You mean, when there are no more differences between them to distinguish them from one another?” She needed clarification.

‘Exactly’, the voice laughed again, that menacing laugh behind her head.

Sakura felt her hair being gathered as if by a hand, felt a warm softness at the back of her neck and shuddered.

‘Don’t worry my love, you won’t be alone’, he whispered against her skin. ‘I’ll always be with you. I promised mother. I’m the only man you can really trust, the only one who will never betray you’.

Sakura closed her eyes at its touch. “This is wrong. I don’t even know who or what you are. Please, stop touching me.” She bent her head down, kept her voice low. “You said mother sent you but I don’t even know her, I don’t know you.”

Zetsu was half tempted to tell her how well she knew him and who she knew him as but relented, dropping his hands and arms from her body, sitting back and away from her. ‘You know me, give it time Sakura. You will see, the only one you can trust...is me’.

Sakura kept her eyes closed tightly until she felt his presence drift away, until she felt that she was really alone again with Madara, and sighed.

“I’m not alone.” Sakura leaned forward and kissed Madara’s temple. “I have Madara.”

...but the words of her phantom friend kept replaying over and over in her head… _‘When they become one, there will only be one. Right now, you are correct, they are not the same person, but they will be and soon’_

...all because of her.

“I can’t change who I am.” She muttered in full understanding of what the voice meant. She had noted the changes in the other Madara, she knew it was her influence, her and Madara’s. “What the hell am I supposed to do about it?”

No matter how she looked at it, the change was inevitable. Moving along the same time frame, the same timeline, eventually this Madara would become her Madara...and then what? Her Madara would just...disappear?

_The ground shook beneath his feet, he stumbled, his eyes glowing red as a wave of intense heat washed over the land scorching the grass and withering the trees. Indra looked up at the darkened sky, now aglow with falling, flaming debris. A ball of white light, vibrant and ethereal fell among the flaming masses and struck the earth not far from where he stood._

_Indra waited, expecting to feel the force of the impact but none came. Curious, he moved swiftly toward the glowing horizon to investigate._

_Soon, he came upon a crater. A crater large and deep enough to have shaken the ground for miles around the impact site, but hadn’t. Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve against the dust, Indra popped over the edge of the crater to peer down into the wreckage._

_His red glowing eyes went wide and his arm dropped from his face. At the bottom of the crater, on a black shiny, obsidian glass platform lay a woman. The most stunningly beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair was a rich pastel pink, her skin a pale smooth white and lips...the color of summer wine, a pink only slightly darker than her hair._

_Indra slipped down the side of the crater coming to a graceful stop at the edge of the obsidian platform to gaze upon the woman more closely. He had heard the tales from his father about his mother, his and Asura’s grandmother. Tales of her beauty and her power, of her corruption and her bloodlust._

_The elders told stories of how she had come to Earth form a planet far away to harvest the kami tree for her clan, and how instead of becoming her clan’s sacrifice, ate the fruit of the kami tree and became the first wielder of chakra, giving the gift to her sons Hamura and Hagoromo Otsutsuki._

_...but nothing could have prepared him for this._

_“Are you, okay?” Indra reached a hand out to the woman, to tap her hand hesitantly. He watched patiently as the woman began to stir, her eyes fluttering open._

_“Who are you?” Indra asked her, schooling his voice into a more calmed reserve once he saw she had fully regained consciousness._

_“I am...Sakura. Sakura Otsutsuki.” The woman’s eyes opened to reveal pale green irises unlike anything Indra had ever seen before, because before now he’d never met anyone with green eyes. He hadn’t known anyone could have green eyes._

_“Otsutsuki?” Indra’s eyes spun wildly, he jumped back from the woman into a crouch. “State your business woman. Why have you come here, have you come to finish what Kaguya started? There are no Otsutsuki here aside from my immediate family, my own clan. You must be from...beyond.” He growled. He would be damned if anyone was going to take his chakra from him._

_“Kaguya? You know her? Where is she? I must see her!” The woman sat up abruptly, one hand pressed against the side of her head as she tried to get up off of the dark shining platform. “Please, take me to her?”_

_Indra paused, his hands in his sleeves. Her voice was so...innocent and hopeful. For a moment she reminded him of his brother Asura._

_“She is dead, sealed into the moon by my father and his brother. Her sons. Hamura and Hagoromo Otsutsuki.” He told her as he continued to watch her closely. Was she there to take Kaguya back? His father had told him that was what his mother feared the most, that someone from her clan would come to either kill her or to drag her away and back...but this woman didn’t seem as though she wanted to harm Kaguya. It almost seemed like..._

_The woman’s eyes went wide, then dropped to the ground in despair. “I’m too late but…” She looked up at Indra again, her green eyes wide. “You said your father? So you’re…” Tears slipped down the sides of her cheeks to fall onto her white robes._

_Indra squared his shoulders and stood up tall. “I’m Indra Otsutsuki. The first son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Kaguya’s first born.”_

_Sakura smiled, her eyes soft._

_She hadn’t expected to find more family when she had come to Earth. She had been told that her mother had died by her father and by almost everyone around her. Except for her nanny, who told her that her mother was a fighter, that her mother was strong and that she had to still be alive, fighting to find a way home to her, fighting to come back to Sakura._

_...and Sakura believed her nanny._

_She believed that her mother loved her no matter what her father said. She believed she would see her again one day when it was her turn to visit earth and tend to the kami tree, only...she hadn’t expected to find her dead, or more family in her place._

_Sakura looked the man over before her. An Otsutsuki he said. He certainly didn’t look it with his dark hair and red eyes. Of course, neither did she with her pink hair and her green eyes. Perhaps it was a family trait, one from their mother?_

_Sakura smiled. She had family, real family not...she bit her lip. It was time to leave her past behind her and forget about her cursed father Isshiki Otsutsuki._

_“Actually.” Sakura smiled. “I was her first born.”_

_Sakura laughed as the man’s mouth dropped open in surprise. His carefully poised, dignified manner slipping in the face of her unexpected news._

_“I suppose that makes me your...aunt?” Sakura inclined her head to the quickly recovering man and smiled._


	28. Chapter 28

Madara jerked violently awake , his hand trapped under some invisible force. His chakra spiked uncontrollably as his other hand lashed out against the barrier that kept his other appendage at bay.

“Madara, stop, it’s me...Sakura.” Sakura gripped his fist in her chakra infused hand, squeezing gently as she released his other hand that she had been holding while he slept. Slowly, she pulled her chakra back and let go of his fist. “I’m glad you’re awake. I was starting to get really worried.”

Hashirama and Tobirama burst into the room, followed shortly by Other Madara and Izuna Uchiha.

“Sakura, are you alright?” The other Madara asked, looking at her in concern. “We felt his chakra spike and came to see if, if…”

“I’m fine, just fine. He just woke up and was startled. It’s okay.” She smiled faintly at the other Madara who had been taking it upon himself to check in on her almost everyday for the last three weeks.

“Are you sure?” Tobirama glanced from her to the Madara who had just woken up.

“Yes.” Sakura said firmly. “I am.”

“Hmph.” Tobirama crossed his arms and glared at her.

“Idiot.” Izuna rolled his eyes.

Sakura ignored them all in favor of concentrating on her Madara. His eyes were still glazed and he looked like he was going to pass back out.

Madara jumped to his feet, his hands to his head and swayed dangerously. Sakura was there in an instant, behind him, holding him up so he didn’t fall, guiding him back down to Hashirama’s bed. 

“Sit Madara. I’ll get you some tea.” Sakura kissed his forehead and made her way to the door nodding to the other men. “Watch him. I’ll be right back. Don’t let him leave.”

“How long have I been out, how long Sakura?” Madara looked up at her, one of his hands still gripping the side of his head, his eyes darting back and forth from her to the other Madara in the room, almost frantically.

“Three weeks.” She said quietly before slipping out of the room.

“Three weeks?” Madara looked down at Hashirama who sat down beside his bed smiling at his friend.

Madara sat back down in the bed hard. His knees giving out.

“She never left your side.” Hashirama told him.

“Almost never.” Tobirama looked down at the Uchiha with an unreadable but unfriendly expression on his face.

“Jealous albino rat?” Izuna smirked from the opposite side of the room, snickering.

“Izuna, put forth a little more effort if you please. Sakura will return soon. You don’t want her to punch you in the shoulder again do you?” Other Madara smirked at his brother’s playing face.

“No.” Izuna hunched his shoulders in upon himself, then straightened quickly and moved farther away from the door as Sakura came back with a tea tray, setting it on the ground by the head of Madara’s bed.

“What the hell happened while I was out cold?” Madara asked Sakura who smiled as she poured the tea.

“Out cold?” Hashirama glanced at Sakura. “Is that another one of your era’s...what did you call it, turning phrases?” He asked her.

“It’s called a turn of phrase Hashirama kun, and yes it is. Madara means while he was asleep and unconscious.” She clarified for the room setting a cup of hot tea into Madara’s hands and helping him sit up more comfortably adjusting his shirt and blanket for him.

“Then why not say ‘Unconscious’?” The other Madara mumbled under his breath.

Sakura shushed him. He smiled at her fondly but schooled his face into a mild look of indifference when Madara caught his eye.

Other Madara watched Sakura fawn over...himself, a small twinge of jealousy lit his heart but he pushed it down, deep down and snuffed it out. Soon, it would be his time with her, soon she would be his and only his. He just needed to be patient.

Madara sipped his tea, his eyes on his counterpart as he watched his Sakura.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened while I was recuperating.” It wasn’t directed at any one of them in particular, just as it wasn’t a request.

Sakura and Hashirama shared a look but no one spoke.

“What is it, clearly something happened, or something changed. What is it, Sakura?” Madara asked her, covering her hand with his when she bit her lip and her whole body trembled.

“You’re dying.” Tobirama broke through the uneasy with blunt force.

“Am I?” Madara asked Sakura who nodded and then shook her head. “I see.” Madara drank down his scalding tea in one gulp. “Tell me.”

Sakura shot Tobirama, a look of such utter loathing that it surprised him. They had been getting along rather well before his...collapse, a little too well. He wondered what had changed between them.

“He isn’t dying.” Sakura shot her words out of the side of her mouth at Tobirama, her eyes still on Madara. “His soul is just...evening out.” She glanced at the other Madara who had moved closer to her while she and Tobirama had exchanged words.

Madara narrowed his eyes at the man.

“Let her explain before you make a fool out of yourself...us.” Other Madara smirked at himself, knowing exactly what his other self was thinking.

“It’s okay Madara.” Sakura began.

“It’s okay that he tricked you into sleeping with him? I might have forgiven you and been understanding with you but I’m not going to let him…” Madara began.

“Madara stop.” Sakura’s voice was hard, surprising him into silence. “Please.” Her voice softened.

Madara grit his teeth and pushed his seething remarks aside for her...and only her. He could see she was distraught.. “I’m listening.”

“You’re not dying, but the closer your personality, or soul gets to the current time frame’s Madara, the weaker your soul will become. I should say, his to yours. He is slowly becoming more...optimistic and accepting of his new world that you helped create.” She explained. “When you collapsed, when Hashirama san brought you back to the compound, we saved your life by infusing flesh of the current time frame’s Hashirama in your former adversary’s inflicted wound.”

“By doing so, we erased the flesh of the past Hashirama’s cells in your system. The Hashirama that felt betrayed by you, the Hashirama you bore a grudge against because his younger brother killed your younger brother.” Sakura looked from Izuna’s controlled calm to Tobirama’s barely suppressed annoyance.

“In other words.” She took a deep breath.

“In other words, eventually I will fade away to be replaced by him.” Madara nodded to the Madara that sat beside his bed, beside Sakura.

“Yes.” Sakura’s voice was hollow. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what love?” Madara cupped her cheek, ignoring the others in the room. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” His eyes passed from her to his mirror image beside her.

“What else has happened?” He asked, changing the subject. He and Sakura would speak again, but in private. “What’s got your panties all twisted up?” He raised a brow to Tobirama who hadn’t stopped glaring at him since he had woken up.

“Panties?” Hashirama asked? ”What are panties?”

Sakura clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Her face burning red. Leave it to Hashirama to lighten the mood.

Madara opened his mouth to answer, but was surprised yet again by Tobirama.

“They are women's undergarments.” Tobirama said with a straight face.

Izuna snorted and elbowed his brother in the back playfully, earning himself a stern look from both Madaras. Sakura rolled her eyes and glared at Tobirama.

“How the hell do you know that?” Madara demanded. “How does he know that? He would have had to have been told such a thing.”

“He read my Hokage journal.” Sakura grit out in between clenched teeth. “Without my permission!” She rounded on Tobirama who looked away from her.

“You shouldn’t have left it out in the open.” He replied indignantly.

“It was in my bedroom.” Sakura growled hotly.

“You mean my bedroom.” Tobirama countered.

“What in kami’s name were you doing in his bedroom?” Madara asked Sakura. 

“I was sleeping in there, to be close to you.” She raised a pink eyebrow at him, daring him to continue.

He refrained.

Hashirama rubbed his temples. “It’s good to have you back Madara. As you can see, Tobi is getting on Sakura chan’s nerves a bit.” Sakura pulled a kunai from her pouch and whipped it at Tobirama’s head once she saw Madara was settled..

Tobirama plucked it from the air and flicked it back at her with a roll of his eyes.

“They’ve been at one another’s throats for over a week now.” Hashirama leaned forward. “Since Tobi read her diary.” He whispered confidentially, even though Sakura had just told him openly.

“Hokage journal.” Sakura corrected Hashirama.

“I’m curious as to what it said.” Hashirama ignored her. “Tobi seems to know some pretty intimate things about Sakura chan now. I’m a bit jealous. I always wondered what sort of things women wrote down in their diaries. Toka won’t let me see hers either. I asked.” Hashirama rambled on and on while Sakura and Tobirama threw kunai back and forth at one another.

“Enough.” The other Madara rose from beside Sakura hooking the four airborne kunai over his fingers and pocketing them. “I’ll give them back once the conversation is over.” He told Sakura and Tobirama….then added… “Children.”

Madara stifled a laugh. Sakura’s head whipped around to glare at him, but her anger faded into a smile as she continued to look at him, her nerves calming as she reached out for his hand. Other Madara watched like the others as she brought his hand up to the side of her face and leaned into his palm, closing her eyes.

He wanted that. Her.

Tobirama shifted his weight over his feet and turned away, toward the wall. Izuna snickered at him again making his face go red with anger. Hashirama sighed.

“I’ll get you some food. You’re going to need the energy. We’ve been needing to pick the locations for the main buildings but Sakura made us wait until you woke up. You’re awake, so get your ass out of bed, we have work to do.” Hashirama clapped Madara hard over the back with a wide grin, then rose to his feet.

“Don’t kill each other while I’m gone.” He told his brother on the way out of his room.

“Tell that to her. Clearly, she has anger issues.” Tobirama gave Sakura a scalding look which she returned with interest, her green eyes narrowed to slits.

“Sakura.” Madara rubbed his thumb over her cheek where his hand still cupped her face. “What the hell did you write in your diary dear?”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I said I wouldn't post until the weekend, clearly...I lied.

Madara looked at the house built into the side of the cliff, gripping Sakura’s hand in his. Sakura had shooed the others out of the room while he sipped his soup and drank his tea. They left without too much protest, understanding how much she had missed him...even Tobirama didn’t protest too much even if his face was rather pinched at the prospect of leaving them alone again now that he was awake.

Madara realized he had been asleep for far too long. The tendrils and connections that surrounded him had latched onto Sakura, pulling her in, drawing her closer to those he had once rejected and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Most of all, the dreams he had while he was asleep, disturbed him. He could only remember a few but they were vivid in his head and pulled at his heart. He needed to speak to Hashirama but first...to explain his connection with her better. He had to make sure Hashirama understood before he, before he...

It didn’t matter...maybe it was for the best. She wouldn’t be alone when he...left.

“Do you like it Madara?” She asked him nervously, bringing his attention back to her. “I asked Hashirama to help me with it while you were resting. I wanted to have something to show you when you woke up.” She waited…

“Is that, a falconry?” He asked her pointing high above the cliffside cave entrance decorated with wooden flower beds.

“Izuna san told me you liked falconry so I thought, um…” She shifted nervously on her feet.

“I love it.” Madara looked down at her and kissed her, pulling her into a tight embrace. “It’s wonderful Sakura.”

“Yeah?” She smiled up at him. “Let’s go inside!” She pulled him through the front door of their home into an open living room, then into the bedroom, up the stairs to the second floor where her plants hung over the ledge.

“This is my work room, to make my medicines and such.” She pointed into a room that hadn’t been there before. “I used my earth style jutsu to carve it out of the mountain.” She explained, noticing his confusion.

“Clever.” He nodded following her out onto the ledge.

“Look.” She pointed up to the falconry above them and to the left. “I’ll be able to sit here and watch you work with your birds.” She smiled.

“Falcons Sakura, they aren’t just birds.” Madara corrected her but smiled nevertheless. This was nice, it was...incredibly domestic and… “Show me the bedroom.”

Sakura laughed. “I used my earth style jutsu for our bedroom as well.” She pulled him by the arm back into the shadowed tunnel that would take them back into the interior of their new home.

“Sakura.” Madara pulled her onto their new bed noticing the Uchiha fan on the coverlet, briefly, he wondered who had given it to her. Pushing coverlets from his mind he swept the hair back and over her shoulder so her neck was bare to his mouth. “Did you miss me love?”

“Yes.” She breathed out, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I was worried you wouldn’t wake back up. So was Hashirama.” She leaned all of her weight into his chest, yes, she had missed him very, very much.

“...you weren’t alone though. I see that Hashirama helped you with this house while I was bed ridden and that your interactions with Izuna seemed to have cooled down, while your acquaintance with Tobirama has seemed to have reached a boiling point.” Madara pulled on the ties of her shirt, recognizing it as one of the shirts he had purchased for her from the market the day of his collapse.

“I like this shirt on you. I knew the dark blue would go well with your hair.” He tossed the shirt to the floor and reached for the ties of her pants. “I thought you would prefer pants to a full length kimono.” Nimble fingers worked the pants down over her knees.

“I do, thank you Madara.” She turned in his lap to pull the sash from his waist, spreading apart the wrapper of his shinobi shirt to push it back off of his shoulders. It fell with a woosh to land on top of her pants. “Do you like our house?”

“I love it.” Madara picked her up and laid her back on their bed, pushing his pants down and off the ends of his feet. 

There were questions in his eyes, she could see them just behind the desire. There were things she needed to tell him, but not right now. Reaching up she pulled him over her by the hair, his spiky locks sticking out in between her fingers.

“Madara. I love you Madara. I didn’t get to tell you last time.” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “I didn’t think you were going to wake up. You were asleep for so long.” She began to sob, clutching his hair, burying her face in his neck.

“I missed you too. I know I was asleep but I dreamt of you. I dreamt of you as you were when I first met you, as Indra.” He pet the hair from her eyes.

“As Indra?” She asked him, but she didn’t seem surprised.

“You’ve been dreaming of me too? As Indra? Were you in your original body?” He asked her curiously, running the tip of his nose down the side of her neck.

“It seems, according to Hashirama, that I have always looked like myself, only you and he have changed appearances over the years.” She tilted her head to the side so he could kiss her better, her hands running up his sides. “I don’t remember it though, it only comes to me in my dreams. There’s still so much I want to remember, to do with you.”

“We still have time.” He hugged her, moving onto his side to lay beside her, stroking her back. “I’m still here.”

“I know but it isn’t enough. You'll leave eventually and...I know in theory it will mean that he will be the same, just like you are now, just like the Madara I fell in love with but, it doesn’t feel right.” She swallowed audibly in his ear as she pressed the side of her face against his. “It still feels wrong.”

His mind was fighting to keep up with his surroundings. Everyone around him had over three weeks to process and accept what was happening but for him, it was all new. Not new in concept, the thought, the fear of this exact situation had already crossed his mind. It was one of the theories he and Hashirama had discussed.

One he had already begun to accept.

...but the thought of him not being the one to experience all of the things with Sakura that he just recently realized he wanted…

“It’s okay Sakura, you understand don’t you, this is how it was supposed to be.” He didn’t regret his time with her. He wouldn’t waste what little time he had left with her either. “Turn around, that’s it, come here.” He shifted his weight so he could kiss her, pulling her up to meet his mouth.

“I’m happy Sakura. You made me a very happy man.” He whispered against her trembling lips.

“Stop.” She cried. “You’re talking like you’re already gone, like there’s no hope at all. I’ve been working tirelessly these last three weeks to find a way to keep you here, to bind your soul to mine, to, to save you.” She pressed her palms against his chest.

“Tobirama, that asshole, he won’t even try to help me, he won’t even...I hate him. I hate him…” She sobbed.

“Ah.” He understood now, so that’s what happened between them. Madara drew in a deep stabilizing breath. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but...Tobirama isn’t like that love. If he knew a way to do as you asked, he would have told you. I’m sure he did everything he could. If he says there isn’t a way, then I don’t think he knows of one. Tobirama is a stubborn, short sighted asshole love, but he isn’t pety or spiteful.”

Sakura gasped. It sounded suspiciously like he was giving up. “You’re giving up?”

“I didn’t say that love. I only mean that hating Tobirama, as tempting as it might be, won’t help.” He said simply. He wasn’t giving up. Acceptance was different from failure. He had learned that...from her.

“I tried seals, thinking if I could seal your soul here to this time then…” She started.

“Sakura.” Madara lifted her chin with the back of his hand. “Stop. Who knows how long it will take my stubborn self to get to where I am now. It could be years.” He tried to smile at her. Clearly she was upset at the possibility of losing him, and as selfish as it sounded, it pleased him greatly to know she loved him that much.

She shook her head. “Not years. I don’t know how long but...I didn’t see the differences between the two of you that day, three weeks ago by the river. The look in his eye, the way he touched me…” She ran her fingers down his face and over his chest, her eyes cast low, her lashes down.

“The only difference I could tell was his mangekyou. That was the only difference Madara.” Her voice was quiet, subdued...final.

“Oh.” He didn’t have any other words. There was nothing else that came to mind. “I see. Well then…”

The tears continued to slip down Sakura’s cheeks as they silently held onto one another. After a long time of just laying naked together, her tears finally stopped.

“At least you got to see the house.” She laughed feebly.

“I’m not going anywhere before we have sex in our bed.” He pulled away from her so he could tap her on her nose playfully, but froze at the horror struck look in her eyes. “Sakura, I’m sorry I was joking dear.”

‘Pull yourself together woman are you really going to ruin the time you have left with him sobbing and blubbering all over him?’, that damn voice was back. It had been heckling and soothing her in turns over the last three weeks, touching her in her sleep, cooing to her behind her ear…

‘Shut up!’, she growled at herself.

‘He doesn’t have long, it’s what I keep telling you, just enjoy the time you have left together’, the voice faded from her mind leaving her hollow.

Warm kisses over her eyes brought her back from her mind, strong hands lifted her up and over his body.

“Show me how much you love me Sakura.” Madara’s husky deep voice filled her head, his hands rocking her hips back and forth over his growing need. “Show me how much you’ve missed me love.” He grinned up at her.

She smiled. This is how she wanted to remember him. When the time came, this is the moment she wanted to remember, along with a handful of others...that she would cherish forever, this one right here, would be her favorite.

“I do love you Madara. Yes…” She pressed her hands to his chest, careful of his newly healed wound, moving slowly, rocking back and forth arching her back seductively for him. “I’ll show you how much I love you.”

Sakura lifted herself up, took him in her hand and slowly lowered her body over him, her teeth in her bottom lip, her eyes closed as she slid down overtop of his impressive length until they were as close as they could possibly be to one another.

“Open your eyes, love, I want to see the pleasure I give you in your eyes. I want you to see how much pleasure I get from your body, how good you make me feel.” Madara’s finger dug into the fleshy curve of her hips, a low guttural moan vibrating from his chest as Sakura snapped her hips.

Her long hair waved over her back tickling his balls, teasing his thighs, her body rocking against his with increased speed. Madara watched as her perfect lips formed a perfect round ‘oh’ when he thrust up against her, twisting his hips to match the rhythm she had set for them.

“Knees.” He growled, picking her up and throwing her to the bed. “On your knees.” He pushed her head down and drew her ass up by the hips, pushing back into her, gathering her hair up into his fists in one hand, his other resuming a crushing hold on her waist as he pulled and pushed against her.

“Madara…” She hissed through clenched teeth. “Madara.” She moaned out pressing back against him wantonly.

“I love you, please so close I love you please Madara please.” she was begging him and she didn’t even care.

Madara exploded inside of her, her walls quivered and clenched around his cock as he shuddered above her. “Love, Sakura...I love you so much. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

Leaning against her, over her he whispered over and over in her ear. “I love you.”

Collapsing together on their bed, Sakura pulled her arm out from underneath him and curled up against his chest. She smiled into his sweat slick skin. He pulled the blanket up and over them to cover them against the chill coming off the stone floor.

Looking around their bedroom he didn’t see a fire pit or fireplace of any kind. A small smile curved his lips, of course she wouldn’t think of such things. They weren’t needed in her time. He would take care of it for her, he would make sure she had everything she needed, before he left.

“Kami…” Madara Uchiha closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in his life. “...watch over her and keep her safe.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. You’re everything I ever needed. If only it hadn’t taken me so long to…” He laughed at his own foolishness. “No, everything happened just as it was supposed to.”

If he had met her before, or after...this never would have worked. No...he understood now. Madara bent his head forward and buried his face in Sakura’s hair, his breath shallow and strained. “This is how it was supposed to be.”

Sakura was already asleep in his arms when he closed his eyes. He had stayed up as long as he could manage to watch her, memorizing every eye lash, every twitch of her lips...counting every inhale, capturing every exhale with his mouth. Kami how he loved her.

Eventually the strain of being awake so long after being asleep for nearly a month overtook him. Madara Uchiha closed his eyes, a smile of blissful adoration on his lips, the only woman he had ever loved in his arms, as the sun broke over the horizon.


	30. Chapter 30

Izuna swung his legs back and forth as he lazily leaned his back against the tree growing out of the side of the cliff above Sakura’s home. He couldn’t quite bring himself to think of it as both Madara and Sakura’s home yet, since it wasn’t his brother living there with her, yet.

It had been two weeks since that man had woken up. The man that looked exactly like his brother, spoke exactly like his brother...lusted after the same woman as his brother.

Although lusted might not be the best word to describe what either of them felt for Sakura, Izuna continued to swing his legs back and forth. ‘Loved’, Izuna shook his head, no that didn’t sound right either, at least not for the Madara he knew. Perhaps for the other one…

Izuna stilled his swinging legs when he saw a flash of pink shoot out from the front door of the half in-half out of the cliffside house and into the nearby forest. Like lightning, Izuna shot out of the tree to follow her.

She stopped by the river to pick watercress, as had become her custom since the man had fallen ill, which she continued to do after his recovery. He knew she knew he was following her. It was a game they played.

She would pretend not to know he was waiting for her outside of her home. He would follow her to the river and watch her pick her watercress, then follow her deeper and deeper into the forest, silently trailing after her while she gathered the herbs she hadn’t found room to plant in her wooden flower beds Hashirama had made for her.

It was their routine and it worked for them.

Once in a while he would drop down from the tree to ask her about a root or a plant she had picked. Rarely, she would call him down and share her lunch with him. Slowly, gradually, they had begun a hesitant friendship of sorts. Taking their time to assess one another from a distance.

This was easier for him and he was relieved that she didn’t seem to mind.

The only time he got angry or left before her foraging trip was over was if ‘He’ showed up and ruined their game. ‘He’, being Tobirama Senju. That was one person Izuna had no intention of ever warming up to.

Their conversations, when they had them, were never long and rarely held in the audience of others. Even when it was just his brother Madara present, Izuna never said much to the woman. A comment here, an observation there.

Since their first meeting Izuna had withdrawn a bit, preferring to spend his time watching her, learning about her through observation. To her credit she never told him to go away. To his credit, he always left before it got to that point. If he saw she was going to bathe, or if she laid back in the grass to watch the clouds, something he thought was pointless and ridiculous, he would leave her in peace. He didn’t want to bother her, or annoy her. He just wanted to...get to know her in his own way, and she let him.

Izuna paused only briefly at their usual spot by the river. She hadn’t stopped today like normal, she had continued on, toward the borders of their marked land. After a couple weeks discussion, for the council’s sake, Hashirama and Madara, both of them having taken turns in the meetings, settled on the borders of their new village.

Since the village already had a name, Konoha, and no one saw fit to change it, a small naming ceremony was held between the land that used to separate the Uchiha from the Senju. Sakura had made comment how she never realized the clans lived as close as they did and wondered how the bloody war between them had even started in the first place.

No one seemed to know, only that too many had died and too much blood had been spilt.

Strange, Izuna thought as he ran over the trees following Sakura, how one woman could change so much. How one tiny pink haired woman could change the world, because he was under no false impressions, that is exactly what she had done, was doing and would continue to do if she remained in this time frame.

He hoped she would, for his brother’s sake, for all of their sakes.

Izuna hadn't been pleased with his brother adhering to the other Madara’s forced truce with the Senju. After finding out what had really caused the Senju to retreat from their battle lines that one day, he had fought tooth and nail with his brother to retract the order, to pick up where they had left off and to lead them back into battle as originally planned, but Madara had refused.

...because of her.

Izuna stopped behind Sakura, his head turning left and right taking in his surroundings. “Where are we?” He asked her.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Izuna and smiled faintly. “The southeast border of Konoha.”

Izuna rolled his eyes ,he knew that, that wasn’t what he meant. “Why, what are you looking for?”

“The Village of Ruins.” Sakura replied, jumping down from her tree, crouching low to the ground, both of her palms flat against the soil.

Izuna felt a soft humming in the air and realized she was sending her chakra into the earth, searching for...a ruined village? “I’ve never heard of a ruined village in this area before.”

“It might not be ruined right now, in this time, it may be thriving.” She turned her head farther east. “In fact, I’m hoping it is. I’m hoping it has what I need.” She took off at a dead run.

“Go home Izuna. I’ll be back later.” She called over her shoulder as she sent a burst of chakra into her feet and sped off toward a pin pointed destination that only she knew about.

“Damn it!” Izuna punched the tree beside him. He hated it when she did that. He wasn’t fast enough to catch up with her.

A blue and white blur shot past him, then disappeared in a flash.

“Fucking hell!” Izuna screamed and hit the tree even harder. “So fucking annoying!” 

Tobirama was following her and he could, with his jutsu, catch up to her while Izuna, couldn’t.

She had felt it through the Earth, with her chakra, a village to the east, the fabled village in her time of seals. It had been destroyed for it’s knowledge, but she couldn’t recall from her history classes when it had been destroyed. She thought that it must already be abandoned because the surviving inhabitants had moved to The Land of Eddies afterward, taking their acute knowledge of seals with them to share with the Uzumaki to whom they were closely related.

Not many people knew this in her time and she couldn’t help but wonder if many knew of it in this time. Izuna didn’t seem to but...Izuna wasn’t the science or scholarly type...Tobirama was.

Sakura had asked Tobirama of course. He had denied any knowledge of such a village and had been rather closed lipped with her when she had asked questions about the Land of Eddies as well. That’s when she had started to turn away from him, and had started to distance herself from him. It was clear, whatever answers she required to keep Madara with her, she would have to find them on her own, if they could be found.

Madara didn’t think the man was petty and yes, she had to agree with him, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t being completely honest with her either, he was hiding things from her. She could see it in his eyes when she looked at him. Knowledge.

Well, that was fine with her, if he wouldn’t tell her she would go herself, the ruins, or the village whichever was standing there when she got there. She would find her answers by herself if Tobirama refused to help her.

With each foot fall she could feel the village, she pushed her chakra into her eyes to use her byakugan. She could see it there, ahead of her. The last month hadn’t been spent solely on researching how to keep her Madara here with her but to test the limits of her new kekkei genkai, the byakugan.

She remembered watching Neji and Hinata train together both before and during their war. What little knowledge she had, she used to keep herself from passing out after using it and over time, her tolerance to use the jutsu grew. Baby steps, she had told herself and it had paid off. She could use her byakugan for a total of twelve minutes at the moment and grew stronger every time she used it with the help of her inner annoyance. That voice was surprisingly knowledgeable about her new...skills and she couldn’t help but be suspicious of that.

He had told her, for she knew now it was a he, that her mother had sent him to aide her. Well she had put his ‘aide’ to good use over the last month. She didn’t consider herself proficient, she would need an actual byakugan wielder to train her in more detail, but for now, it was enough.

Sakura thought of Hayamo Hyuga and wondered when the Hyuga would join the village. Perhaps she could learn from him when the time came. She jumped up to the long reaching branches of a nearby tree and gazed out over the dip in the land.

...a village. An abandoned village. She sighed. It was better than nothing she supposed.

Sakura hopped down from the tree and made her way toward the village, sending her chakra out and around her scanning the area just in case she was mistaken about the village being abandoned, or for anyone who may have decided to settle in after the original occupants left.

A strong arm shot out to grab her. She deflected it deftly with the back of her wrist, rolled her palm over and grabbed her attacker’s wrist firmly in her hand and pulled them up against her chest.

“Stop! Wait please!” A small voice cried out to her. “Don’t hurt my brother please!” A young girl popped out from behind a tall tree to Sakura’s left.

“He attacked me. I was defending myself.” Sakura pulled up on the wrist locked in her hand making the boy squeak in protest. “A poorly executed attack I might add. If I were a heartless person, or if I had been paying less attention you would be dead for your foolishness.”

Sakura released the boy’s wrist. “Fortunately for you, I was paying attention and stopped myself from stabbing you with this.” She flicked her kunai through the air, cutting off a stray lock of hair that had once framed the boy’s face.

The boy’s eyes went wide. “You’re a, a shinobi.” He gaped at her open mouthed.

“Kunoichi actually.” Sakura looked from the boy to the girl curiously. “Are you hurt? Hungry? I assume you attacked me to rob me. Where are your parents?” She asked them.

“Dead.” Tobirama appeared before her as though out of nowhere making the boy knock his sister to the ground, covering her with his body to protect her.

“Show me.” Sakura nodded to him. “Try smiling Tobirama San. You’re scaring the kids.”

Tobirama motioned her to follow him, muttering under his breath, “I’m not the one who put the kid in a choke hold. If anyone scared them it’s you.”

“I heard that.” Sakura glared at him. “...and it wasn’t a choke hold.”

“I wasn’t whispering.” He shot back. “...and he was choking.” He snapped.

“Why are you here?” Sakura pulled him to a stop by grabbing his arm. “Why did you follow me. You couldn’t have known I was going to come here. What is the purpose?”

“I knew you were coming here. You’re much more predictable than you think.” He moved around her leading the way to the children’s dead parents. “For someone who knows you as well as I do.” he added.

“Just because you read my Hokage journal doesn’t mean you know me.” She insisted.

“Diary, and yes it does.” He countered pulling her up and over a large rock. “It’s over here, it looks like they were killed by bandits.”

Tobirama led Sakura for another mile through the woods, coming to a stop outside a small clearing, in the middle of the small clearing stood a small one room cabin. Sakura could smell the dead bodies from where they stood.

“Oh.” She understood. 

“A group of men came to our house four days ago, begging for water and a meal. Our father, having little choice, ga ga gave them what they wanted.” The young boy spoke from behind the two shinobi. “Then, they killed him and...and took our mother into the woods. We found her body two days later.”

“Father told me to hide on the roof with Sochi, we lay there until they left, two days later. We stayed quiet. Just like father told us to.” The boy had no more tears to cry. His eyes burned hot with remorse, anger and vengeance. “One day, I’m going to find them and kill them for what they did!”

Sakura swallowed. It was the boy’s eyes. They looked just like Sasuke’s.

“What’s your name?” Sakura asked the boy, her eyes passing over the little girl clinging to the back of his shirt.

“Saya.” He growled. “What do you want, why are you here?” His eyes fixed on her with suspicion. 

“There’s nothing here for you, nothing shinobi would want.” He growled at her.

“I am looking for the Village of Ruins, do you know where I can find that?” She asked him, not put off by his angry words. He was hurting and understandably so.

“The old kaze ruins?” The boy asked her guardedly. “That’s a myth, you’re wasting your time.”

Sakura could feel the increase in his heart beat, could feel the tremor in the earth under his feet with her chakra. He was lying. Her eyes flickered to Tobirama who was watching the boy with a new interested intensity. He knew the boy was lying too.

‘We’re close’, she told the voice in her head, the voice she had started speaking to more and more in the past few weeks of her training with her byakugan. ‘I know the village is here, just past those trees and over the rise’.

‘Yes’, the voice agreed. ‘I recall it being there for quite some time actually until they came and wiped it out, killing nearly everyone. A nasty massacre, even more bloody than the Uchiha massacre...that won’t happen now, because of you.’, the voice purred, wrapping an arm around her waist, his breath hot on the back of her neck.

‘You don’t need these children, you have me. I’ll show you where the village is’, the voice tried to pull her in the direction of the village but she stood her ground.

‘Where were you before when I was asking Tobirama san where the village was?’ She asked the voice in her head.

‘Hum?’, it hummed at her.

“They’re coming with us. We can’t just leave them here.” She said out loud.

“Excuse me?” Tobirama protested. “They are not our responsibility Sakura san.”

“Sakura?” The little girl lifted her head and looked at Sakura, her wide green eyes sparkling with wonderment and curiosity. “What a beautiful name.”

Tobirama groaned internally, that was it, that sealed the deal, the kids were coming. He knew enough of the woman to know she wouldn’t turn her back on these orphans now, not after that display of both flattery and cuteness. “Fine, they can come, but you’re babysitting them, not me.”

“I wasn’t asking your permission Tobirama san.” Sakura glared at the man but smiled at the little girl. “You know my name, what’s yours sweety?” Sakura crouched down and held her arms out in front of her.

“Sochi.” Sochi told her, moving hesitantly into her arms. “That’s Saya kun, my older brother.”

Sakura picked Sochi up and braced her on the side of her hip. It’s nice to meet you Sochi chan and you to Saya kun.” Sakura smiled at the boy sticking her hand out to him.

“Hi.” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, looking very much like Tobirama, who also had a disgruntled look on his face, his arms crossed over his chest.

Sakura’s mouth twitched as she looked at Saya and Tobirama.

“Right, well, we should get going, before it gets too late. I don’t want to be there all day if I can help it.” Sakura turned with Sochi still in her arms, the little five year old was small for her age and Sakura wondered if it was from not getting enough to eat both before and after her and her brother’s parents deaths.

“We should um, take care of the house first though. Shouldn’t we?” She asked Tobirama.

“I’ll take care of it, you take the children and go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you. Release your signature a bit so I can find you later.” Tobirama made the hand signs for his massive mud walls, encasing the small cabin easily.

“Okay. Come on kids, let’s go.” Sakura reached out for Saya’s hand but he knocked it away, his eyes hard staring at the now encased cabin his parent’s had built, the cabin all four of them had lived in for the last three years...the cabin they had been killed in. 

“We’re not going with you. We don’t even know you.” He spat at her.

“You can’t stay here alone, it’s not safe.” Sakura understood Saya’s concerns after what had happened to their parents, but it wasn’t safe for them here. “What if the robbers come back Saya kun, how will you protect Sochi chan?”

Saya clenched his small fists to his sides, but made no more protests as he followed Sakura to the treeline. He must be around twelve she thought, he was considered a man in these times, of course he wouldn’t want to hold her hand.

“Don’t look back guys, only look forward. Tobirama San will catch up to us soon. Don’t look back.” She stepped into the surrounding woods with Sochi in her arms, Saya close to her side, trying very hard to keep his bottom lip from trembling. “Remember, don’t look back, that way your past won’t follow you into your future.”

Sakura bit her own lip to keep her fears at bay. She really ought to take her own advice.


	31. Chapter 31

Sakura had to move much more slowly with the children than she normally would. For the third time since they had left Tobirama to bury the children’s cabin, she sighed. She had expected him to catch up to them by now and wondered what was keeping him. He should have caught up to them by now with that annoying jutsu of his, looking over her shoulder she began to worry, then scolded herself. Tobirama was the Lord Second, not some genin.

As though he really could read her mind, she turned her head to the left, and there he was. “Do you do that on purpose?” She asked him, mildly annoyed. Annoyed she had worried for nothing, annoyed he had surprised her by appearing so suddenly, but annoyed mostly because she blushed when their eyes met.

“You’ll need to be more specific. I tend to do many things that annoy you.” He said cooly, his eyes moving to focus straight ahead of them.

“Ass.” Her blush faded, but not before his eyes had slipped to her cheeks taking her blush in.

“Nevermind.” Sakura grit her teeth and refrained from spilling the profanity on the tip of her tongue for Sochi’s sake. Sochi that had fallen asleep in her arms and was as heavy as a small ham.

Sakura felt Tobirama stiffen beside her.

“Do you feel that?” Tobirama asked her as they walked, ignoring the boy who hadn’t stopped glaring at him since his arrival. “That energy?”

Sakura closed her eyes, sending her chakra out into the forest surrounding them. She felt a pin prick of light intent toward the west and something much like…”Madara?”

Tobirama nodded. “You didn’t feel him before did you.” He wasn’t asking.

“His seal.” Sakura muttered under her breath. That man. Which one though. Over the last two weeks the two Madara’s chakra signatures had become so close she couldn’t tell them apart, they were almost identical. 

It had been that realization that had thrown her into a panic, had sent her out into the eastern lands in search of a seal, or jutsu that could help her keep the man she loved with her...longer if not indefinitely.

‘Pointless.’, the voice cooed to her in her head. ‘Selfish’, it taunted her.

Sakura ignored it. She didn’t care if she was being selfish. She wanted Madara, more than she had ever wanted Sasuke, she loved him.

“Seal?” Tobirama brought her out of her thoughts. “Madara Uchiha can seal his chakra?”

Sakura noticed Saya’s eyes hardened and wondered why. Did the boy know something about seals, or was it the mention of Madara?

“Is that not what you do?” Sakura asked him, her eyes still on Saya. 

She had just assumed that was how Tobirama concealed his chakra, why it was always so difficult for her to locate him if he didn’t wish it. Saya seemed to be struggling with some sort of inner turmoil, the emotions changing over his face like water rolling over rocks. She decided it was best to let him be, for now.

“I use no such thing. I have a seal for chakra but I don’t need to use it. I simply draw my chakra into myself, back into the coils and contain it within my own pools until I have need of it again.” Tobirama looked down at her. He didn’t understand why she would think he would use a seal.

“Is that not what you do?” He had assumed that is how she had concealed her chakra as well. It was concealed flawlessly, without a trace that he had just assumed… 

He had heard Madara and Hashirama speaking of her signature, or rather, the lack of her signature, but hadn’t understood what they had meant by saying it was sealed by the rabbit.

Tobirama found that depending on who was having the conversation, the facts seemed to change in reference to Sakura and her abilities. That’s why when the opportunity presented itself...he had read her diary. He wanted to know more about her and if he was unable to go to the source directly...because she might not tell him, what better way than to read her own private journal?

Clearly in his mind it was the most logical means to the end, getting to know her, without actually asking her what he wanted to know.

“Where are we going?” Saya interrupted Tobirama and Sakura’s conversation rudely. “I want to know where you’re taking us before we go any further.” Saya stuck his bottom lip out in defiance, stopped and ground his heels in as Tobirama made the hand signs to…

“Tobirama Senju, don’t you dare!” Sakura threw her left arm out, clasping his hands in her tiny grip, shifting Sochi’s weight against her body with the other arm. Her palm and fingers barely covered half of one of his hands, but she dug her nails into the back of his hand and he stopped. “How dare you use that jutsu on him!” She scolded him, recognizing the horse and tiger sign.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him. He needs to learn some manners.” Tobirama all but sniffed at her.

“He’s just a boy! You’re a grown man, learn some restraint.” She continued to scold him like a child.

“Restraint? Restraint.” Tobirama nearly barked at her. “What, pray tell, in my behavior suggests anything other than restraint and severe discipline? I have spent the last month restraining myself around you!” His emotional damn broke, his words spilling out over themselves like rushing water crashing over them both. Shocking them both.

“What?” Sakura pulled her hand back where it was covering his, shifting Sochi in her arms yet again, hugging the little girl to her chest, peeking over the top of Sochi’s fly away blonde hair at Tobirama guardedly. “Is that a joke?”

“No.” Tobirama straightened his back, cleared his throat and began walking ahead of them. “A momentary lapse of sanity on my part. I apologize. It won’t happen again.” He said stiffly without looking at her. He needed to put some distance between them. Restraint, the woman had no idea...

“Come on, or we won’t make it to the ruins and back to our borders by nightfall with these two in tow.” Tobirama jerked his head back toward them without meeting Sakura’s eyes.

Saya snorted. “Why bother going to the ruins, there’s nothing there, that’s why it’s called ruins.”

Tobirama stopped walking and turned back to the boy. “Why are you trying to keep us from going there? What do you know?” He demanded.

The boy sneered, not at all frightened of Tobirama’s chakra signature that he was slowly releasing and Sakura wondered...why. It wasn’t because he couldn’t feel it. She had seen him dig his feet into the soil to brace himself against it, expecting it. He was used to it, he was familiar with it, he was...from a shinobi family she realized.

...Senju wasn’t of a common appearance, Sakura looked from Saya to Tobirama.

“He knows who you are Tobirama, before I said your name, he knew who you were.” Sakura looked at Saya. “Didn’t you Saya kun?” She asked him gently.

Saya scoffed, but wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I guessed. I mean he doesn’t exactly blend in. It was a coincidence.” He shifted his weight under her unwavering stare. He knew she knew, or suspected and couldn’t bring himself to look into her eyes.

“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Tobirama saw the slight tremor that ran through the boy. His eyes narrowed. The boy was breaking, he could feel it, just a little more...

Sochi stirred in Sakura’s arms. “I can’t breathe.” The little girl nuzzled into Sakura’s neck. “Sakura chan, pull your chakra in.” Sochi mumbled half awake.

Tobirama’s eyes gleamed with vindication. “It seems your sister knows what chakra is and can feel Sakura’s, which is concealed. Which means...you’re lying.”

The boy was fast, but not as fast as Tobirama Senju.

“Tsk.” Tobirama pulled the dual blades from Saya’s hands with a quick two fingered hit to the wrists and knocked him to his knees. The blades clanged to the ground, one over the other waking Sochi up with a jerking of her body.

“Saya!” Sochi scrambled from Sakura’s arms to drop down over her brother, her arms flying out wide to protect him against Tobirama, who she thought was attacking Saya. “Don’t hurt my brother you blood thirsty Senju!”

Sakura blinked. “Blood thirsty Senju? I thought they only called the Uchiha those names.”

“The Uchiha, the Senju, they’re all the same. Bloodthirsty tyrants, egotistical brutes!” Saya sat back on his legs, his eyes darting from Sakura to Tobirama, reaching out he pulled his sister closer to him tucking her under his arm. “You’re not a Senju though, or an Uchiha.” He looked Sakura up and down again.

“Who are you? You don’t look like anyone from any clan I know of.” Saya cocked his head to the side, dropping the innocent and naive act.

“I think the real question Saya kun, is who are you, who really killed your parents and why don't you want us to go to the Village of Ruins?” Sakura knelt down on the ground beside Saya and Sochi, her hands outstretched, her eyes kind. “If you tell me, I might be able to help you know.”

“I don’t want to tell you in front of him.” Saya jerked his chin in Tobirama’s direction.

“I’m not leaving.” Tobirama snapped back at the boy.

“Tobirama.” Sakura began.

“No Sakura. We may have our arguments and we most likely will never agree on anything in the foreseeable future, but I am not leaving you alone with these children. They were lying to us from the start, about the bandits, about their parents and about who they are. The boy attacked you, without knowing who you were, he’s dangerous.” Tobirama insisted. “He also made an attempt at taking my life, just now.”

“I know you are quite capable of handling yourself against other shinobi but these children are not just any shinobi. Are you?” Tobirama fixed Saya with a hard look. He had heard the rumors of their village but he never thought… “You’re from the Genso Clan aren’t you?”

The Genso Clan?” Sakura had never heard of the Genso Clan before. Were they one of the many clans that hadn’t made it through the bloody wars of the era to her modern times? She knew from her sensei Kakashi Hatake that his clan had almost gotten wiped out by the larger more aggressive clans of the times, like the Uchiha and the Senju. Were the Genso one of those clans?

It seemed to be so...Sakura watched Saya stiffen his spine and hold his head up high, glare at Tobirama and then, and then smirk...

Saya lunged for his blades. The boy was quick. Sakura kicked the blades away as Tobirama pulled the boy up with his arms behind his back, locking his legs with his own, dropping to the ground, and rolling over on top of Saya, pinning him to the ground.

“Don’t move. If you do, I break your arm.” Tobirama said evenly, not a threat, a warning. “Calm down. I just told you we aren’t going to hurt you. Sakura san just said she wanted to help you. Be reasonable boy.”

Sochi started screaming and crying for Tobirama to get off of her brother, but Sakura was there to pick her up. Sakura had no idea what these kids had been through, but clearly they only had one another left. They needed to trust her for her to help them. Sakura wanted to kick Tobirama and his stoic superiority but she would admit, only to herself Saya might only be reasoned to right now, with force.

“He isn’t going to hurt him Sochi, but your brother lied to us. We need to protect ourselves, we need to understand what is going on. Tobirama san was correct, Saya did attack me, and I think it is clear now, that neither one of you was telling us the complete truth. Were you?” Sakura gave Sochi a reassuring hug and tried to smile down at the girl in her arms.

“We want to help you and Saya, but we’ll need the truth in order to do that. Can you tell me the truth Sochi? Please?” Sakura set the girl down beside her brother when Tobirama slowly released the boy and rose back to his feet to stand beside Sakura.

“Saya?” Sakura asked the red faced preteen, waiting patiently.

“We told you the truth! You’re just…” Saya began.

“Saya, nii san…” Sochi tugged on his shirt to get her brother’s attention. “Please, we need help. They’ll be back and soon. I’m scared nii san, please.” Sochi looked at Sakura, tears in her eyes. “She’s kind, I can tell, she’ll help us, please Saya kun.”

“She’s nice. I can tell. She has a kind soul, she’ll help us and him…” Sochi repeated her words to her brother now that she had his full attention. Sochi looked at Tobirama. “He’s just gruff, like you but he too is kind, he too will help us. I can feel it. He’s a good person too.”

Tobirama’s ears turned pink. “If you’re quite done, can we go? We’re wasting time.”

Saya’s jaw clenched, his hands flexed at his sides. “We aren’t shinobi. We were never trained, not really but I know a shinobi when I see one and I have been practicing, trying to train on my own.” The boy swallowed hard. “To protect Sochi.”

“To protect your sister.” Sakura understood. “...and your parents?” She asked.

“They were murdered, that was true, but not by bandits.” Saya looked at Tobirama. “You already knew that though didn’t you, you bastard.”

Tobirama narrowed his eyes at the boy for the insult, then nodded his head for Sakura’s sake. “I checked the bodies in the house before I came to you.” He told Sakura. “The parent’s were killed by shinobi, not bandits. The markings...” He trailed off, his eyes glancing over Sochi, then cleared his throat.

“Why didn’t you say something to me?” Sakura asked Tobirama.

“I didn’t think you were going to bring them with us woman.” He waved a hand at the kids. “It wasn’t important at the time.”

Sakura disagreed but now wasn’t the time to address it. “Fine.”

She looked down at Saya who met her eyes briefly before looking back down at his feet. Sochi looked up at her, her eyes wide and almost pleading, almost the same green as Sakura’s own eyes.

“Fine.” Sakura said again, but this time much more firmly. “Let’s go to the Village Ruins and then go home. You can live with me until we figure out something more suitable for the two of you.” Sakura looked at Saya first, then Sochi. “Deal?”

Sochi nodded, then looked to her older brother to answer for both of them officially.

“Why do you want to go to the Village of Ruins? There isn’t anything there. Trust me, we know.” He shuffled his feet nervously.

“Why don’t you want us to go there? What are you hiding?” Tobirama asked the boy suspiciously.

“Not hiding. Protecting. That place is cursed and anyone who sets foot there gets cursed as well.” Saya said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll not allow you to take Sochi there.”

Sakura sighed. She had just wanted to inspect the ruins to see if there was anything useful there, to find a way to save her Madara but these kids…

“Let’s take them home Tobirama san, I’ll come back on my own some other time now that I know where it is.” Sakura reached out for Sochi who jumped willingly into her arms and snuggled up to her neck. “Let’s get home and get some food into you huh baby?” Sakura kissed Sochi on the head making the little girl giggle and squirm.

Saya watched his sister, a tint of jealousy in his gaze, which disappeared when he looked at Tobirama. Saya didn’t say anything but he had seen the way the man looked at the woman and wondered...what their relationship was. To him, it seemed like one minute they hated one another, the next respected one another. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Is it an arranged marriage? Our father had one set up for Sochi but it doesn’t matter anymore.” Saya followed Sakura, his fingers tugging at the ehem of her shirt. “Is that why you don’t like him?” He asked.

“Who?” Sakura looked down at the boy curiously.

“The idiot Senju, the baby killer.” Saya jerked his chin round to Tobirama who was walking behind them.

“Baby killer?” Sakura by passed the arranged marriage comment and addressed the one that stood out to her the most. “The Senju don’t kill babies.” She turned to look at Tobirama, the question in her eyes. He looked away.

“We have to ensure the survival of our own clan first.” He said gruffly.

Sakura’s mouth snapped shut. History hadn’t told them these things, these horrible, horrible things. It was then she realised. The heroes of her village’s past weren’t that heroic after all.


	32. Chapter 32

Obsidian eyes watched the little blonde haired girl shove spoonful after spoonful of soup into her mouth, repeatedly without any signs of stopping.

Madara leaned over to his brother Izuna who had met him at the door to Sakura’s home when he arrived at her request and whispered, “I can’t believe it’s all fitting into that small body of hers. How many bowls has she eaten so far?”

Izuna couldn’t tear his eyes from the small girl. “Six, no seven. Sakura told her to eat as much as she wanted. Apparently she took it to heart.”

Sakura set a cup of steaming tea down in front of Madara, then Izuna. “Let them eat, they haven’t eaten for days I think.”

“Maybe I should go back to the compound. We are in the middle of moving things around getting ready take the main buildings apart to move them here but I’m sure I could get one of the maids to make some rice cakes, to fill in the holes?” Madara continued to watch Sochi stuff her face in wonder.

Saya hissed and fumed quietly under Sakura’s stern eye. He didn’t like the Uchiha more than he loathed the Senju it seemed. The boy had lunged at Madara barehanded, like he had tried to attack Tobirama and Sakura both.

Madara had plucked him out of the air like a leaf on the wind and set him down in a pile of rumpled pride and rumpled clothes...walking into the home like nothing had happened.

Sakura wasn’t sure what had infuriated Saya more, his failure at attacking Madara, or Madara’s lazy reaction to his assasination attempt.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Izuna asked the small dark haired boy across from him, who hadn’t picked his spoon up once since he had arrived. “Don’t you like soup? Aren’t you as hungry as your sister?”

Saya didn’t answer Izuna. Instead he turned his defiant head to Sakura who had sat down beside him with her own cup of tea, her own bowl of soup.

“I didn’t know you kept such foul company Sakura Sama. If I had known you were friends of the Uchiha bastards I would have killed Sochi first and then myself so we wouldn’t be subject to their foul presence.” Saya said with a straight face, his arms crossed over his chest, looking like a smaller brown haired Tobirama.

Madara lifted a dark brow at the boy’s audacity. “Has Tobirama San been giving the little shit lessons in insult or is he just naturally...talented?” Madara asked Sakura who buried her nose in her cup.

“Natural talent.” She mumbled, making Tobirama, who stood in the corner of the room apart from the group, bristle. Before he could open his mouth to defend himself Hashirama and Madara walked through the door together, laughing and talking.

Sakura looked from Madara to Madara. She thought...damn. She couldn’t tell them apart. 

Tobirama watched the confusion and the pain in Sakura’s eyes with closed off sympathy. He couldn’t imagine how she must feel. He had tried and found himself lacking the capacity. He ran a hand through his hair and stepped further back into the corner to hide his feelings that he would never allow to surface to his face.

He was conflicted. Almost as conflicted as Sakura seemed to be, but for different reasons.

Madara sat on Sakura’s other side, taking her hand in his under the cover of the low table. Sakura felt Sochi jerk in her seat, set her spoon down and climb into Sakura’s lap. Effectively breaking Sakura’s and Madara’s hand holding.

Madara blinked at the loss of Sakura’s hand, looked down into the small hateful green eyes looking back up at him from Sakura’s lap. “Uh.”

“Don’t touch Sakura Sama you dirty Uchiha!” Sochi growled, tucking her feet up and under Sakura’s legs, locking Sakura into their embrace.

“Have I been replaced?” Madara asked with forced calm. “I never thought it would be a small girl to replace me in your lap.” His eyes flickered to the other Madara at the table.

Sakura had told the children a little bit about her predicament and the reason she wished to visit and explore the Village of Ruins. They had been surprised of course, doubtful and inquisitive.

“It’s a jutsu.” Tobirama had told them. “A clone jutsu.” He clarified when they opened their mouths to ask him what sort of jutsu could make two of one person.

“Yes.” Sakura nodded. “A jutsu.” She had made the hand signs for the Shadow clone jutsu, one of Tobirama’s own creations on their way back to the cliffside for the children as a demonstration, and as proof of her claim.

Three Sakura’s popped into existence before them. They had clapped. Tobirama had choked. She hadn’t realized he hadn’t perfected his shadow clones yet. 

“Sorry.” She had tried to apologize to him but he had brushed her off, quickening his pace and walking past them, ahead of them.

Sakura moved Sochi off to the side of her lap. “Finish your soup Sochi, then it’s nap time.”

Sochi cast Madara, the closest Madara one last hateful glance before sliding from Sakura’s lap to pick up her bowl of soup. The little girl tipped the bowl up and drained it, setting it down gently on the wooden table top. Once again she turned back into Sakura’s lap, her arms out.

Sakura smiled and pulled the little girl into a tight embrace. “Time to sleep, come on Sochi. You can sleep in my bed.” Sakura rose to her feet, the little girl in her arms.

“Our bed.” Madara corrected her.

“Our bed.” Sakura smiled at her Madara, then turned her head in the other direction to the other Madara who snorted in disdain.

“Is it your bed or is it mine?” The other Madara inquired.

One Madara looked at Sakura, who stood frozen beside her bed, then the other. She licked her lips nervously. She couldn’t tell them apart, and they both knew it. Hashirama knew it, that’s why he wasn’t looking at her. Tobirama knew it, that’s why he was trying to press himself into the corner of the room and Izuna knew it...and was staring at her, in speculation.

“Shit.” Sakura muttered.

“Sa bad word Sakura Sama.” Sochi’s eyes opened and closed, the poor little thing was exhausted. Now that she was safe and full of food she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Sakura laid her down in her bed and pulled the blanket up and over her, tucking it under her chin and kissing her forehead.

When she turned back to the room, all eyes that had been looking at her back were everted. Throats were cleared and legs began to fidget.

“I want some time alone. Hashirama could you, maybe uh…” She waved a hand at Saya who glared at the long haired, brown headed man.

“Of course.” Hashirama smiled at the same time Saya growled, “Like hell.”

“Saya.” Sakura began.

“I’ll be quiet. I promise.” Saya said quickly, his eyes almost pleading. “I don’t...want to be far from Sochi.”

“Oh.” Sakura understood. How silly of her. “Of course.” She smiled at Saya who relaxed, if only a fraction at her understanding.

“I’ll check on you later.” Madara rose from his seat but he didn’t approach her. He simply smiled and nodded to her, then Saya as he left their home.

Hashirama, Izuna and the other Madara followed soon after but Tobirama lingered in the corner.

“Tobirama san?” Sakura watched the man come out of his corner, his chin high, ready to argue with her.

“Nothing has changed.” He said firmly. “I’m not leaving you alone with that boy.” He nodded to Saya. 

“Tobirama San I’m fine with…” She began.

“I’m not.” Tobirama took two steps toward her. 

“He’s still hiding something from us, can’t you feel it?” He didn’t understand, was he the only one who could sense the darkness in the boy? It was clear that neither Madara had sensed it, nor Hashirama or Izuna but he thought Sakura, with her sensory prowess so like his own, that she would.

“Tobirama I don’t know what you’re…” She put her hand on her hip.

‘He’s right hime. There’s something about this boy. He reminds me of Obito actually, when he was younger. The determination…’, the voice sounded interested, too interested. The hair on the back of Sakura’s neck began to stand up.

‘What a shame I made that promise to mother, this boy...has potential…’, he cooed.

She didn’t feel anything, he hadn’t touched her like he usually did after speaking to her inside her head. ‘What is it about him that has you so interested in him?’ She asked the voice.

‘Blood lust, hate, revenge...he craves it, he thirsts for it. It’s alluring, it pulls at me…’

Sakura looked at Saya who was looking back at her, she saw something, briefly moving behind his eyes, a darkness. “Sasuke.”

The name of Sasuke Uchiha left her lips before she could stop herself. Once again, the boy reminded her of Sasuke. Without giving it a second thought she bent down and wrapped her arms around Saya and hugged him hard against her chest.

“It’s okay Saya. It’s going to be okay. You can trust me. I’ll look after Sochi, I’ll look after both of you Saya.” Sakura had her eyes closed, her face pressed against Saya’s face.

Saya gasped and blinked, teared up and swallowed. “That’s not...I don’t need...Let go!” He pushed against her but she refused to let him go, refused to give up on him, she was going to save him before he ended up like…

“No.” Sakura said simply. “I’m not going to let go until I think you’re ready.”

Tobirama watched the boy struggle in Sakura’s arms. That was it. That was what drew him to her, drew all of them to her, he understood it now.

Sakura was the light in them all that had been snuffed out by war and bloodshed. She was...hope.

Slowly, the tension drained from Saya’s arms and legs, slowly he leaned back against Sakura, leaned into her embrace. Tobirama could feel the anger and the hate draining away from the small boy, a little at a time.

He could feel the uneasy queasiness leave him as he watched her hug the boy to her chest, healing him with her love. 

“You’re amazing.” The low, deep murmur of Tobirama’s voice flowed through her.

Sakura’s eyes met his, she breathed in while he breathed out. She waited for him to speak but no words came from his lips. She watched as he moved closer to her and Saya. Her arms tightened around the boy as Tobirama bent over them and brushed her hair from her eyes.

‘NO!’, The voice brought her to her senses. 

She jerked away, Saya falling from her arms to stand alone, awkward and confused. The spell was broken. He glared at the Senju.

“Bastard.” The boy hissed. “Get away from her! You’re not married yet!”

Bastard, Tobirama threw his formula, disappearing before their eyes, yes, he was a bastard. He had almost...what had he been thinking. She’d never forgive him now.

“Married?” Sakura’s mouth dropped open. “Saya, Tobirama San and I aren’t, we aren’t oh my gosh what did you think was…”

“I’m twelve Sakura Sama, not four like Sochi. The man wants you. Can you not run from him? Those other men, are they keeping you here? You’re strong but I suppose with those men…” Saya trailed off, deep in thought. “I’ll help you Sakura Sama.” His eyes fell to his sister sleeping peacefully in Sakura’s bed.

“We both will.” Saya vowed, his hand over his heart.

“Saya. I think there’s been a slight misunderstanding here.” Sakura smiled at the boy. He was so brave, so strong for his age. “Come here kid.” Sakura held her arms out to the boy who stepped into them, feinting reluctance, for his pride’s sake.

Izuna watched the white haired Senju appear outside of Sakura’s home, his eyes narrowed at the look of confusion on the man’s face. Something had happened. What… 

Izuna didn’t like how the white haired bastard had taken to following Sakura around like a love sick puppy. He didn’t like how the man seemed to know more about her than any of them, even his brother Madara.

Izuna didn’t like how Tobirama always seemed to know where the woman was, even if he wasn’t with her. The only reason Izuna hadn’t mentioned it to his brother was because he was sure his brother was already aware of the situation, as was Tobirama’s brother, Hashirama. It seemed to be obvious to everyone but Tobirama.

As for Sakura, she either didn’t notice or didn’t mind the attention. Izuna thought that perhaps she was just oblivious to the Senju’s affections because of her unwavering affection for Madara. Izuna snorted from the branch of the tree he was sitting in. She clearly only had eyes for his brother, the white haired bastard could hope all he wanted, could look all he wanted...it was fine, because Sakura wasn’t looking back.

Izuna closed his eyes. Let Tobirama follow her, let him watch her. His brother would address it when he was ready, when he felt it was necessary. Tobirama hadn’t crossed any lines, he hadn’t made a move toward the woman, it was fine. Sakura could take care of herself and if she needed help...he, Izuna, would be there to help her with Tobirama.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for the weekend.

“You can feel it can’t you.” Madara didn’t bother turning around. He knew he was there. “You can see it in her eyes.”

Madara sat down beside himself on the bank of the river. “I can.”

“Soon.” They nodded together.

“You don’t love her like I do, I know that.” Madara needed to say it, needed to get it out of his head, to know where they stood together.

“I will, I can.” 

Madara nodded. “When I’m gone.”

“When you’re gone.”

Was it out of respect he wondered, then chuckled to himself, with himself.

“You don’t know her like I do. You weren’t there during our war and…” Madara bit down hard on his own tongue. He sounded like a fool.

“I will get to know her as you know her and I will care for her like you do.”

Madara nodded again, wordlessly. “I know.”

“She’s…” He couldn’t find the right word. Every word that came to him fell woefully short of...her.

“Hn.” Madara acknowledged his other self’s inability to pinpoint in words how they felt about the same woman.

“Hn.” Madara smiled, tilting his head back to the sun that broke through the clouds.

They had spent a little time tending to Sakura’s potted plants while Sochi took her nap. Saya had refused to take a nap, claiming he was too old to nap and he was but...Sakura could tell he wanted to, just as strongly as he didn’t want to. She smiled as she pulled the flower tops from her monk’s hood.

“Why are you taking the flowers?” Saya stifled a yawn, his eyes red and sore looking. Poor kid, he was even more stubborn than she was.

“When dried they make a very good blood pressure medicine. I dry them, then make them into a tea to help control high blood pressure, sometimes to keep people from bleeding too much, or if they are under too much stress it can help calm them. You know, so they can relax.” She explained.

“You should give some to that white haired bastard.” Saya plucked a white flower from the potted plant with nimble fingers, twirling it in between his finger tips. “Why do you let him follow you around like he does?”

“I already told you Saya. It isn’t what you think.” She had taken him aside before leading him to the upper levels of her home, and explained to him that she and Tobirama were just friends, that she was not being forced to marry him, that they were equals.

“Tobirama can be hard to talk to sometimes. He is very intelligent and...blunt but he isn’t a bad person. Even your sister thinks he is a good person.” She reminded the boy who was giving her a slightly disgusted, slightly skeptical look.

“You’re naive.” Saya threw the flower into her basket that hung on her arm. “I’m not the only one who sees how he feels about you.” Saya was smirking at her. He looked like Izuna when he smirked like that, and Izuna looked like Sasuke.

“What is it?” Saya demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sakura laughed, then patted him on his head. She had been staring. “Nothing kid.”

“Hey, I’m not a kid you know.” He hissed as he followed her back down into the main part of her house.

“Sure sure.” Sakura humoured him playfully. “You’re a man, how could I forget. Forgive me Saya kun.” She grinned at his glowering. He looked like a pissed off puppy pretending to be a wolf.

Her thoughts immediately went to Kakashi. What was with this kid, reminding her of all of the men in her life, past and present. “Come on, let’s make Sochi something to eat. She ate quite a bit earlier and you ate almost nothing.”

Sakura set her basket down on the small table in the kitchen and peeked at him out of the corner of her eyes. He was hungry. The lines around his mouth were pinched and she could see him swallowing, repeatedly.

“I’m going to set some rice cakes to bake over the fire and maybe some miso?” She turned to look at Saya quickly, catching him licking his lips before he had a chance to school his features into a bland indifference.

“Ha!” She poked him in the forehead with two fingers, then blinked realizing what she had just done. “Got you.” She added lamely.

“What are you twelve?” Saya knocked her hand away. “You’re so weird you know that?”

Sakura shrugged. “That’s not the first time someone has told me that.”

“I’m not at all surprised.” He muttered, picking up a few grains of rice that were laying on the counter and popping them into his mouth. “I’m sure it won’t be the last either.” He muttered.

“What was that?” Sakura raised a pink brow at the boy making him blush. “Come on, help me here.” She handed him a pot with rice in it already.

“Go wash this by the river for me would you and fill it half way up with water.” She waved him away, ignoring the grumbling and under the breath comments about how it was women’s work to wash rice and fill buckets with water.

Sakura smiled to herself. He was an okay kid, he had just been through a lot was all. She wouldn’t let the darkness take him, she was going to keep him grounded, keep him sane...keep him within the light.

‘You can’t save everyone you know’, the damned voice was back, taunting her again. It was as though his personality changed with whatever mood he was in when he spoke to her. Sometimes he was mean and chastising, other times he was kind and instructive, pleasant even. She didn’t understand, it was like he was two different people at times.

Kinda like how inner was before she had found her strength. Her hands stilled over the leeks she was cutting. Did his presence mean she wasn’t strong anymore,that she was…

Sakura set her knife down and tapped her fingers against the wood of her countertop. The voice had started speaking to her after her and Madara had come here, after she had...was that why? Had she manifested it on her own from a past life?

She still wasn’t sure what all of her dreams meant. Some of them were nice and helped her understand who she was, who she had been and who she could be, but others...were dark and twisted, painful to watch, painful to acknowledge.

Sakura shook her head. She was Sakura Haruno the Sixth Hokage, not the daughter of Kaguya Otsutsuki. Madara was Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha Clan head, not Indra the son of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths.

Hashirama...Hashirama wasn’t Asura and Naruto…”Naruto.”

Was that what she was doing? Saya wasn’t Sasuke.

Saya bent over the rice pot Sakura had sent him to the river with. Only after he had left her home did he realize he was being watched. Which one, he wondered, which one of them felt the need to watch him? Why? Was it for Sakura’s sake or was it out of suspicion? 

Saya moved the rice in the pot with his hands over and over, shucking the casings of the pure white grains. His stomach growled in anticipation. He couldn’t recall when he had rice as fine as this, if ever. 

He had been pleased to watch his sister eat. He had fed her as best he could but it was never enough. Their parents had been dead for over two days, and he dare not leave his sister alone for fear those bastard Shimura would return to torture her about things Sochi knew nothing about.

Saya gripped the pot in his hands so hard that it popped out of his palms. Snapping his chakra out around him, he grabbed the pot, manipulating the water around it, so it didn’t float away. He grit his teeth. The rice, he hadn’t wanted to lose it, so he had used his chakra and now…

A slow clap came from the trees behind him.

Saya rose to his feet, the rice pot in his arms, as he slowly turned around to face Izuna Uchiha.

“So I was right. There was something off about you kid.” Izuna walked toward the boy for a few paces then stopped and activated his sharingan.

Saya’s reaction was instantaneous. He threw the rice pot up in the air toward Izuna, rushed forward with chakra infused feet and thrust both of his arms out, palms first into Izuna’s chest sending the man flying backward and away.

A strong arm grabbed Saya by the back of his shirt and hoisted him in the air. “Enough Saya. Apologize to Izuna San.” Sakura shook Saya forcefully.

“Izuna, get up, you’re not hurt, stop pretending. I’m a medic nin remember, you can’t fake injuries with me idiot.” She rolled her eyes at Izuna as he leapt back up to his feet, grinning at her fondly.

“He tried to use his sharingan on me!” Saya protested. “Demons! Black dragons!” He began to scream. “Murderers!”

Izuna looked at the boy with amusement. “And?”

Saya glared at him, pushing Sakura aside and stepping in front of her. “You may have fooled Sakura Sama but not me Uchiha!”

“Uh.” Sakura looked at Saya. It was clear, Madara and Izuna weren’t the first Uchiha he had seen before, nor was Tobirama or Hashirama the first Senjus the boy had seen. 

“Saya, why don’t we have a little talk hum?” She smiled at him. “Come on. I see that you lied to me again. You know how to use your chakra don’t you Saya?” Sakura kept her voice calm and kind. She wanted him to trust her. She wanted him to talk to her.

“A little yeah.” He looked up at her in defiance but when he saw nothing but softness in her eyes, he dropped his eyes to the ground, ashamed. “Our parents, before they were killed told us...told us to keep it a secret, not to tell anyone so…”

Sakura waited, giving him the time he needed to collect himself, to decide if he would let her in or not, if he would trust her.

“So I lied to you.” He looked up at her, his green-yellow eyes remorseful. “I’m sorry.” He ducked his head. It was the first time since they met, he actually looked, sincere.

“It’s okay Saya.” Sakura held her hand out to him. “You were just doing what your parents told you to.”

Saya looked at her outstretched hand. He wanted to take it. He knew she could tell he wanted to take it but...he couldn’t. He wouldn’t because, because he had to do this alone. He had to protect Sochi himself, he was her older brother, it was up to him to, to…

“Hey.” Sakura broke through his heavy thoughts. “It’s okay to take my hand. It’s okay to let someone help you sometimes. You can’t do everything alone Saya. You’re strong, but you’re not immortal.”

“You should take your own advice.” Izuna, whom she had completely forgotten bout, was still there, leaning against a nearby tree his head cocked to the side as he watched them. “Stubborn woman.”

“Look.” He said to Saya. “Trust her or don’t trust her, but stop giving her such a hard time okay. She doesn’t deserve it. Any one of us, would have left you and your little sister out there on your own to die or starve or whatever, so stop being such a little prick will ya?” Izuna smirked at Sakura, then hopped back into the trees, taking his time jumping from branch to branch heading back to the Uchiha compound.

“So?” Sakura’s hand still floated in the air between them, waiting.

Saya’s ears began to pinken and he shuffled his feet, but he wasn’t a coward. He lifted his head, looked her in the eye and reached out for her offered hand. “Fine.”

“Fine.” Sakura smiled and pulled him along after her at a ruthless speed. “First lesson Saya, keeping up with me.” She laughed as he screamed, her hand gripping his with a bit of chakra so he wouldn’t fall to his death as they raced up the side of the cliff.

“...but Sochi!” Saya protested, in between his screams of terror.

“Don’t worry, we’re going in the back way.” Sakura winked at the wide eyed boy and ran across the top of the cliff only to jump off the cut vertical cliff on the other side.

“Shit!” Saya swore for the first time in his life as they fell through the air, to what he assumed was their death until he felt her slow to a stop, her feet digging into the side of the cliffside just before touching the ground, him safely by her side.

“I’ll teach you how to do that on your own, tomorrow.” Sakura motioned to the side of the cliff in front of them, the one they had just raced down. “Right now, find the back entrance to my house using only your chakra.”

“Only my chakra?” Saya looked at her. “How do I…”

“I saw you move the water with your chakra. It’s like that I assume, move your chakra to your fingertips, only instead of moving water with it, move the chakra through the rock to find it’s weaknesses, it’s gaps and holes.” She smiled at him, placing her hands on the cliff wall, pushing her chakra to her fingers until they glowed a faint green in demonstration.

“Amazing.” Saya had never seen such a thing before, he didn’t know you could actually move chakra, he thought you could only use the chakra to move other things. This was incredible, this woman was incredible.

“Now you try.” Sakura pulled her chakra back in and dropped her hands to her sides, looking at him expectantly.

“Okay.” Saya cracked his knuckles and placed his palms on the cliff wall in front of him as Sakura had done. Concentrating his chakra to the tips of his fingers he tried to push it into the earth in front of him. “It feels hard, like the rock is resisting me, my chakra.” He tried to focus. He strained forward, willing his chakra to extend past his fingers into the rock but…

“I can’t. It won’t move.” Saya looked at the wall in anger. “I’m sorry.”

Sakura pursed her lips. “It’s okay, no big deal. You might not have an Earth affinity like me. It might be impossible.” She smiled down at his shocked face.

“You had me try when there was a possibility it wouldn’t work?” He asked her.

“There was a possibility it would work too.” She pointed out logically. “Do you know what your affinities are? Do you have more than one?” She asked.

“Well, water but I don’t know any others.” He said thoughtfully. “I was never tested, I found out about my water affinity by accident. Sochi fell into a lake by our old house, the one before the one you…” He stopped talking abruptly. He had said too much.

Sakura ignored his slip up. “Hum, well we should test you to see. Would you like that?” She smiled easily. 

This was fun, she had never had an apprentice before. She had been the apprentice but as the Hokage...maybe this would be good for both of them. She needed something to focus on, other than losing Madara.

“Maybe.” He was still hesitant, but Sakura could tell he was warming up to her, it was only a matter of time before they were good friends.

“This will be good for both of us Saya.” She hugged him without warning. He stiffened in her arms. She laughed and hugged him tighter. He relented with a scoff. She smiled. “Yeah, this will be good for all three of us.”

“Sochi too? You’ll train Sochi too?” Saya asked hopefully.

“Of course I will.” Sakura was surprised he would even ask.

Saya looked back at the wall. She was trying so hard to, to help them. Two kids she didn’t know, didn’t hold any responsibility for and… “Let me try again then. If you’re serious, so am I.”

Two masked shinobi bent low to the ground beside the ruined cabin. “Earth style jutsu.”

They nodded in unison, rose and made the hand signs. The wall of dirt and rock lifted a few feet into the air, floated off to the right and fell with a loud crash. The two masked shinobi walked closer to the rubble, the stench of days old decay scored their senses.

“Where are the children?” The one masked shinobi asked the other.

“Not here.” Was the answer.

Both heads turned to the surrounding woods, eyes narrowed searching for clues.

“There.” The first one pointed. “...and there.” He pointed past the trees.

“Do you feel it?” The second bent and lifted a leaf to his nose. “Do you smell it?”

“A woman.” The mask hid the shinobi’s grin.

“A Senju.” The other nodded before they both jumped up into the trees running swiftly West, toward the not yet placed borders of Konoha.

“Lord Danzo will want to know about this. He wanted those kids.” One said.

“Then let’s make sure we have something to tell him.” Replied to the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I don't post until after Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS guys!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	34. h

Sakura cut up the leeks she had pulled from one of her deeper potted boxes on her cliff ledge and handed them to Saya. “We’ll fry these with the fish we caught by the river earlier.” She smiled as he ducked his head.

“Sorry about the rice Sakura sama.” He tried very hard not to smirk at the memory of Izuna Uchiha’s face when he had thrown the pot of rice at the man to distract him. The Uchiha hadn’t been expecting him to throw rice at him.

“It’s okay Saya, but try not to throw pots of rice at my friends from now on okay?” She laughed out loud, setting him at ease.

“He’ll tell the others won’t he.” Saya watched her move to the next potted box. Was the Uchiha her friend, they didn’t seem close to him.

“I doubt it. Izuna san isn’t like that Saya.” Sakura pulled spring cabbages from the dirt and added them to the basket Saya was minding for her. “Come on, let’s wash these by the river, then we can start dinner.”

“Why Sakura sama, why are you friends with such, such horrible people?” Saya didn’t understand. The more time he spent with the woman, the more he could see...she didn’t belong with them. She wasn’t like them, like other shinobi, other kunoichi he had met, had seen...had feared.

Sakura considered her words as they walked down the stairs and out the front door to her home. “I’ve learned recently Saya, that things are not always as they seem. If you take everything at face value, you will find yourself very short sided. It is hard to see who someone really is, if you don’t look at all of them.”

She tapped her fingers against her lips. “...or if they don’t show you all of themselves. Sometimes people only show you what they want you to see and it gives you a false impression of them.”

Saya frowned. “Like the Senju, the white haired bastard that follows you and, and argues with you all the time?”

Sakura laughed. “Tobirama isn’t a bad guy Saya Kun, he is just a bit gruff, like I said before, much like you.” Sakura laughed again when Saya scoffed in disgust.

“I’m nothing like him.” The boy growled.

“Oh?” Sakura took the basket from the boy and set it half in, half out of the water and rubbed the dirt from the vegetables as they continued to talk. “You’re blunt to the point of offense, you try not to show people how you feel and you’re suspicious of everything and everyone.” She grinned at him.

“Sounds like Tobirama san to me.” She winked at him, making him blush. “Give him a chance kid.” She cuffed him playfully on the shoulder, picking the basket up out of the water.

“Fine, but those insane Uchiha can kiss my…” Saya flinched as a kunai zipped past his head, grazing his cheek.

“Kiss your what kid?” Izuna spun another kunai around his middle finger lazily.

“You demon, you foul, loathsome son of a…” Saya took a step forward toward Izuna who began to laugh, wiping tears from his eyes.

“I like you kid, you’re fearless aren’t you.” Izuna paused, spun his kunai once more, then flicked it at Sakura.

Before Sakura could take the simple step back to avoid the juvenile attempt, Saya jumped in front of her pulling a kunai from his belt and deflecting the blade Izuna had sent toward her.

“...and loyal.” Izuna hummed, his eyes spinning red with interest. “What clan are you from?” He asked Saya.

Saya grit his teeth, shifted his weight on his feet and made a very credible lung for Izuna’s neck with a second kunai he pulled from his belt the moment his feet left the ground.

Sakura blinked. He was a natural fighter, much more bold than she had been at his age. She was almost impressed. Almost.

“Saya.” Sakura watched the boy stagger backward, Izuna rolling his eyes, then laughing as Saya righted his stance and lunged at him again.

“I always wanted a little brother.” Izuna deflected the jab to his ribs, the kick to his face and the needle meant for his neck with ease. “My other brothers are dead, killed by the Senju.”

Sakura’s eyes flashed, but she tamped her temper down. Izuna didn’t mean it like that, she tried to remind herself.

“Saya.” Sakura called to the boy again as he rolled and tumbled backward. “Izuna san has the sharingan Saya, you need to try another approach. Head on, brute force, won’t win a fight with an Uchiha. With their visual jutsu, they will see it before you even think to execute it.” She sighed. The kid had heart but no sense at all.

“I’m not afraid of his cursed eyes.” Saya snarled, leaping into the air once more ignoring Sakura’s advice.

“Stubborn little shit isn’t he Sakura chan?” Izuna grinned, lifted his arm, and with one finger stopped Saya from making contact with his chest as the boy had intended. Flicking his finger, he sent Saya flying backward...again.

“Enough you two, come on, Sochi must be awake by now with all the noise you’re making. Let’s make dinner. Izuna San, will you be joining us?” Sakura called over her shoulder as she walked back toward her home, basket in her arms.

“Sure, why not.” Izuna smirked as Saya swore and began muttering under his breath. “Hum?” Izuna smiled at the boy.

“Nothing asshole.” Saya shot out of the corner of his mouth trotting after Sakura.

Izuna laughed. “Little shit.”

Saya crossed his arms and sat in the corner of the kitchen as Izuna and Sakura talked about nothing important. He noticed that the Uchiha and the woman didn’t seem to be as close as the other men he had seen her with before, not even as close as her and the younger Senju and he wondered at the dynamics of their relationship.

Though friendly, the Uchiha seemed to keep a distant respect for the woman. As for Sakura, she seemed to look him in the eye less than the other men he had seen her interact with so far. Not an unusual habit, but unusual for Sakura he noted, who looked everyone in the eye that she spoke with, man or woman. It seemed to be in her nature to be...equal.

Izuna san seemed to be...an exception and Saya couldn’t help but wonder why. He continued to observe them closely as dinner was prepared, only leaving the kitchen to wake Sochi for dinner when it was ready.

Sochi cuddled up to Sakura on her cushion beside the table as Sakura ladled soup from the cook pot and rice into bowls. Saya wasn’t sure how he felt about his sister’s immediate attachment to the woman. 

To him, it seemed like an insult to their dead mother. He knew Sochi was young but she wasn’t too young to remember what had happened to them a few days ago...when the men had come to their home and killed their father in front of them...and had tortured their mother for information she didn’t have.

His grandfather hadn’t told his parents, they didn’t know...only he knew. Only the first born of the main branch of the family, of every other generation knew the secrets of their clan.

What was he doing here, playing nice...those men were still out there, breathing. They needed to die for what they did to his parents, they needed to pay for what they had done to their family, for taking away his happiness just when he had found it again. His peace.

There was no justice in this world, only corruption, only hate and greed and...power. He needed power. He needed to become stronger to protect Sochi, to protect people like...Sakura.

Damn them. Damn all shinobi, he hated them. They were all the same, greedy, mindless killers...except…

Sakura’s hand brushed his arm as she reached for the tea pot.

Except Sakura. Sochi was right. 

There was something very different about Sakura. She wasn’t like anyone else he had ever met, she was...genuine and kind, she was...real. Saya wasn’t at all sure about the Senju Tobirama though. Sochi said he was a good person but he wasn’t like Sakura, not good like her. Maybe he was good, but there was a difference in how Sakura was good and how that man was good. 

Saya was convinced. Sakura was good in a way that no one else was and that she needed to be protected from them. He glared at Izuna, who was laughing at something Sakura Sama had just said. Filthy, disgusting Uchiha…

Izuna rolled his eyes to himself. The boy hadn’t stopped glaring at him since dinner had been set on the table. He admired the boy's determination and fearless approach to battle, but it was a bit hard to enjoy your dinner with daggers being thrown at the side of your face.

“What do you plan to do with them?” Izuna changed the subject abruptly, his head tilted to the children.

“I’m not sure yet. See if they have any family nearby perhaps, if not train them and make them part of our new village. Saya has a water affinity. I haven’t had a chance to evaluate Sochi yet, she’s a bit young but I see no reason not to test her affinity with chakra paper.” Sakura sipped her soup.

“We have no more family.” Saya spoke for the first time since they had sat down to eat.

“...and if you did you wouldn’t tell us anyway would you?” Izuna raised a brow to the boy.

“Not you.” Saya spat out at Izuna. “Maybe her.” Saya looked at Sakura.

“How do you know you can trust her? She may be acting sweet and innocent to lull you into a false sense of security you know.” Izuna smiled a charming smile.

“She isn’t from a big clan, I can tell, she isn’t like you.” Saya said with conviction. “She’s a good person, I can tell.”

Izuna looked from Saya and Sochi to Sakura. 

There was a bit of resemblance there, just for a moment, he saw it. Maybe it was the green eyes of the girl, so like Sakura’s, or perhaps the set of the boy’s mouth, that reminded him of the time Sakura had yelled at him for walking into her home without knocking, but something was familiar between them, something he couldn’t quite name.

“Hum, perhaps.” Izuna grinned at Sakura who returned his smile. They hadn’t had many long conversations, but one of the ones they had, had been about her younger days as a genin, and her clan history. “Or perhaps it’s because she is from a civilian clan.” Izuna smirked at the boy’s drop jawed reaction.

“You’re not from a shinobi clan, are you Sakura sama?” He couldn’t believe it. Sakura smiled and nodded. “Then how can you do those things, how can you...who taught you how to do what you do?” He didn’t understand.

“I had a great sensei when I was younger, an elite. Then later, after my basic training, I studied under the leader of my village. She was incredible.” Sakura smiled.

“A woman leader?” Saya had never heard of such a thing before, but it explained a lot about Sakura, and how she was so different. He wondered where she was from that women could be leaders.

“Her name was Tsunade. She was incredible.” Sakura smiled into her soup.

“I want to be like her, and you Sakura sama!” Sochi smiled adoringly at Sakura.

“Shit, now there’s going to be two of you.” Izuna ducked as Sakura threw a chopstick at him.

“That’s a bad word Uchiha.” Sochi’s green eyes fixed on Izuna with that same intensity he had seen in Sakura’s before and he wondered, again...if he was crazy or if they were related. It would explain why she had wanted to bring them back to her home but...she had acted like she didn’t know them and they acted like they didn’t know her.

He might not know Sakura as well as that bastard Tobirama, but he knew she wasn’t a good actor. Everything she felt and thought showed on her face. No, she wasn’t lying, but the kids were. He wasn’t sure about what, but he knew they were hiding, something.

The next few days were spent getting to know the children better and settling them into a more regular routine. Sakura put off going to the Village of Ruins while the children got more accustomed to her, but she didn’t want to put it off much longer. She could feel her time with Madara slipping through her fingers like oil, and it terrified her.

He was her only link to her world, to the life she had known before...this one. She wasn’t ready to let him go anymore than she was willing to let that connection fade away. She felt guilty. She felt like she ought to have done more or tried harder to find a way home to…

“Saya, I need you to watch Sochi today. I know you don’t want her going to the Village of Ruins but I can’t put it off any longer. I need to go and see if I can find...something I need.” She told them at breakfast.

The children who had been chatting noisily just moments ago fell silent.

“Madara will check on you in a few hours to make sure you’re okay. You’ve gotten along well with Hashirama in these last few days, if you need anything go to him while I’m gone.” She rose from her seat with her plate and her bowl. “He is getting his clan moved into their new compound but I will let him know before I leave to keep an ear out for you okay?”

Sochi pushed herself up onto her feet and pulled on the hem of Sakura’s shirt.

“Sakura sama, why do you want to go to the Village of Ruins?” Sochi looked up at her with her green eyes. “What is it you’re hoping to find there?”

“A seal, to bind one’s soul to a certain time.” Sakura answered Sochi honestly, fully aware that Saya was listening in the corner of the room. He hadn’t turned a page of the book in his hands or moved in over an hour.

“Is it for...Madara Sama?” Sochi asked slowly. Sochi had slowly begun to accept Madara’s presence in Sakura’s life. She still didn’t like the man, but Sochi could see that Sakura Sama adored him...and was trying, for Sakura’s sake, to be nice to the man, because she adored Sakura sama.

Saya on the other hand, had flatly refused to interact with Madara at all, pretending the man wasn’t there for dinner or sleeping with Sakura in the next room at night. 

“Yes Sochi.” Sakura set the herbs she had been grinding down on the counter and picked the little girl up, moving into the main room of the house to sit on the couch. “He’s...his soul will need to choose a vessel, and soon. There can not be two of them, in the same place or long and…” Sakura had only told them a half truth when they had met but…

“One will die, and the other will live. You want to make sure it’s the one you came here with, don’t you.” Saya said bluntly, his book forgotten in his lap. “People never pay attention to kids. I heard talk.”

“Ah.” Sakura wondered who had been talking. It was probably Hashirama, that loose lipped dolt. Sakura smiled, he was a lot like Naruto, or, Naruto was a lot like him.

There was no denying the truth. Sakura had learned exactly how observant and how sharp Saya was in the last few days. If he had heard talk, she wouldn’t be able to bluff or fudge her way out of it.

“Yes.” She said simply.

Saya pursed his lips. He looked from his sister to Sakura, then sighed a heavy sigh of acceptance. “Fine.”

Saya set the book down on the small table, walked across the room to the couch, picked Sochi up and placed her on his lap. Looking at Sakura he sighed a heavy sigh again, this time in defeat as Sochi began to smile.

“We’ll help you.” Saya told her meeting her eyes. “You’ll need us to get past the traps my grandfather left behind.”

“Traps?” Sakura asked him.

“Yeah. The traps he left for anyone who came near the Village of Ruins, before we left...to protect it.” Saya held her gaze. “My family. My mother and father were the last protectors of the Village of Ruins. Now, Sochi and I are.”


	35. Chapter 35

“Have you lost your mind woman?” Tobirama glared at Sakura. He couldn’t believe his ears. 

Of all the foolish… 

“It could be a trap.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin at her.

“As much as I hate to do this, I agree with the white haired bastard Sakura chan.” Izuna thumbed his fist at Tobirama. “It could be a trap, an unintentional one.” He clarified.

“Unintentional one?” Tobirama scoffed, the Uchiha runt was trying to sound intelligent again.

“The kids might not mean to lead her into a trap moron, but they will...unintentionaly.” Izuna spat out at the Senju. “I thought you were supposed to be some sort of genius or something.” Izuna sneered and Tobirama glared.

“Enough.” Sakura stopped them before they could get ahead of themselves and off subject. “I’m going.” Sakura turned to the East, adjusting her pouch on her hip, and taking one last glance behind her at Tobirama.

“Did you want to come with me Tobirama?” She asked, her eyes darting to Madara. They had discussed it the night before in their bed. If she had a shred of doubt, she would take Tobirama with her.

“Why him?” Izuna demanded.

“Why not him?” Tobirama motioned to Madara who stood beside Hashirama, interrupting Izuna. “Wouldn’t you rather take him with you?” He asked.

“Or me?” Izuna sneered at the Senju.

“You’re more skilled with the making and execution of seals, sorry Izuna san. We talked about it already. It was Madara’s suggestion I take Tobirama. If you don’t want to go just say so.” She was annoyed. She didn’t want to take Tobirama with her. She would be fine by herself. She wasn’t going to waste her time trying to convince him to accompany her if he...

“I’ll go with you.” Tobirama said quickly, his hand going to his hip where he had his scrolls tied to his belt, fingers ghosting over each one to make sure they were in place. “I’m ready.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “You’re always ready.”

“I don’t want him to go.” Saya crossed his arms and looked down his nose at her, a truly commendable feat, since he was shorter than her.

“He’s going.” Sakura said sharply. “No arguing.”

‘You don’t need him, you have me’, the voice cooed to her in her head.

‘I need someone who can fight, in case there are others there. I’ll need to be able to protect the children. Who knows what we’ll find when we get there. Saya said his grandfather planted traps, I doubt we will be the only ones looking for the place, or trying to break into it.’, she countered.

‘I can fight hime. You might be surprised at how well I can fight. Besides, if anyone belongs there, it’s you’, light fingers cupped her cheeks, a smoothness she couldn’t see ghosted her lips.

‘How can you fight if you’re in my head and what do you mean if anyone belongs there it's me?’ She asked him reasonably, batting his touch away from her lips, knowing she must look ridiculous.

Saya gave her an odd look.

‘I’m comfortable in your head, but I am not confined to your body, how do you think I can touch you?’, he inquired playfully, avoiding her other question, taking her waist in his hands and running them up her back as he leaned over her shoulder to kiss her under her ear.

‘...but.’, She covered her ears as his laughter echoed in her head.

“Sakura sama?” Saya narrowed his eyes at Sakura. “What is that?” He pointed over her shoulder.

Sakura blinked. Saya could see it? She lifted a hand to cover the voice’s hand on her shoulder. She could feel it but...she turned her head to the side. She couldn’t see anything there. “What do you see?” She asked Saya hesitantly.

“A shadow.” Saya’s voice was low as he stepped closer and closer to Sakura, placing himself in between Tobirama and Sakura.

“A shadow?” Sakura ignored the interested hum of the voice as she looked into Saya’s eyes. “You’ve seen shadows before, haven’t you?” She asked him.

Saya nodded. “One other shadow.” He looked over his shoulder at Madara Uchiha, the other Madara that stood beside Hashirama watching them. “Long ago.”

Realization struck Sakura in the stomach like a tight fist. Saya had met Madara Uchiha before. Before she had brought Saya and his little sister back with her, he had met Madara before. That’s why he hated him, that’s why… 

“When?” She asked the boy.

“When he killed my grandfather.” Saya spit out, glaring at Uchiha and Senju alike. “I told you Sakura sama, they are monsters, all of them.” He growled.

“Saya.” Sakura looked at the other Madara. “People change Saya, he’s not the same man who, who...you met before. He’s…”

“Lies.” Saya growled again. “I don’t understand Sakura sama, they are lying to you, why don’t you see this?” He gripped the edges of his shirt and looked hotly at the ground, at his feet. He would fix her. He would fix her so she could see what he saw. He would show her the shadow that lurked on her shoulder. He would show her the true nature of the Uchiha.

Saya lifted his head and smiled a little smile at the Senju. He would show her the true nature of the Senju and make her see everything they had been hiding from her. He would wake her up to her reality. He would protect her from them.

“He killed him, during their stupid war, because he wouldn’t heal their wounded. The Uchiha don’t have any healers like the Senju. They...came and left death and fire behind them when they left.” Saya wiped the tear from his eye. “The Senju are to blame just as much as the Uchiha though. They draw every clan into their war, every village and every family! Stupid over sized, over powered clans!”

Madara grimaced. “Boy.” He called out to Saya.

Saya lifted his head, and looked at Madara without fear, his chin raised defiantly.

“War consumes all. Not just those who fight against the other.” Madara said solemnly. “After you accept that, only then will you be able to truly protect those you care about.”

Madara looked at Hashirama. “It is true, our wars didn’t just affect our own clans, we were foolish and blinded by hate. While that is no excuse, that is the truth.” Madara bowed at the waist to Saya. “Forgive us.”

“Forgive us. We will try to make it right, with our new village. With a village of peace.” Hashirama bowed at the waist to Saya, like Madara had. His eyes downcast. His heart heavy.

Saya’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly. He had no response. He hadn’t expected them to...he clenched his fists again, flexing his fingers in agitation. No, they couldn’t just apologize, they couldn’t just...words they were just words...

“I remember your grandfather. A tall man, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Your eyes and your grandmother, with hair like your sister’s, and green eyes like Sakura’s.” Madara took a step or two closer to the boy.

“Shall I tell you, young man, why he died? Why I killed him?” Madara offered. “It wasn’t for the reason you think. Your father told you what he wanted you to believe, understandable. Your father is dead now. Would you care to learn the truth of what happened that day?”

“Whatever you tell me will be a lie!” Saya found his voice again. “Nothing you say will ever, ever make me trust you!” He yelled, his eyes clenched closed, tighter than his fists at his side.

“I’m not asking for you to trust me. That would be an unreasonable request for any man to make.” Madara cocked his head to the side considering his next words. He nodded to himself as though coming to a conclusion.

“Your father asked me to kill his father, your grandfather, he wanted control of your clan. It was the price I paid for the healing of my wounded clan members that day. It was my responsibility to my clan. I derived no pleasure in killing an honorable man.” Madara’s voice remained steady as Saya fell to his knees, his hand over his heart.

“Liar.” Saya groaned, but his resonance had no heart. “He wouldn’t.”

“Shinobi are assassins. It was the price of your clan’s help. You’re a Genso, aren’t you?” Madara bent down in front of Saya. 

“I can show it to you. I can show you what happened that day, if you need further proof of your father’s betrayal.” Madara held Saya’s terrified gaze, his tomes spinning in his red eyes. “We are shinobi boy. You are shinobi, like it or not, it runs in your blood, in your veins. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Madara.” Sakura stepped out in front of Saya and picked Sochi up, holding her against her chest. “This is not the time or place for that. Have more foresight.” She warned Madara.

Madara’s eyes flashed red once more, then faded quickly to black. “Hn.” Was his only reply. Sakura was wrong, the boy needed to hear this, but...he would respect her request. He had one more thing to say though…

“Your grandfather, before he breathed his last breath...forgave me. He understood and accepted his fate. He understood my position and my duty, Saya san. Please consider that while you stew in your hatred for me.” Madara bowed from the waist once more before stepping back and away.

Madara watched his other self step back from Sakura and the children, an unease in his heart. Perhaps he had more time with her than he thought. He remembered that day. His other self spoke the truth but...had delivered it cruelly.

The two Madara’s exchanged a glance. Hashirama shifted nervously from one foot to the other while Izuna watched the woman. She was clearly bothered by this most recent revelation. Like Madara though, he thought it needed to be said. Sakura would realize that he was sure, later, when she had more time to think about it. She was logical, but not unfeeling, he had learned that about her over the last few weeks.

She had always been more emotionally intune with her surroundings than they were, he and Madara. Even as Indra and Asura, she had always been the more logical one among them. He smiled, thinking of that one moment in another life...soft brown eyes met dark obsidian. Was Madara thinking of that time they had met her in the ruins of her old home? Was he too thinking of the dream they had that night, exhausted from their travels, two little boys lost and alone, desperately reaching out for one another in the cold night...comforted by invisible hands of their shared pasts?

Perhaps.

Tobirama cleared his throat. “Shall we then?” He glanced down at Saya whose face had turned to blank stone. The boy was hiding his emotions behind a stoic face...like he tended to do.

“Please.” Sakura’s voice was soft. Tobirama’s eyes flickered to hers. He didn’t like the look of her. Whatever history had left behind, whatever notion she had of this era, this timeframe...was clearly, drastically different than the truth. He could see it in her eyes. The disappointment, the disgust and it made him feel uncharacteristically guilty. 

Like he had failed her somehow, like this was his fault.

“Come...Saya.” Tobirama’s voice was gruff, but not unkind as he laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder and steered him face forward, to the East. “Let’s get moving so we can make camp before nightfall. For your sister’s sake Saya.”

Saya looked up at Tobirama Senju and nodded, reluctantly.

Sakura licked her bottom lip. It was the first time the boy had looked at the Senju without hate in his eyes or a sneer on his lips. Her green eyes moved back toward Madara, where he stood between her Madara and Hashirama. 

Madara inclined his head to Sakura, his eyes clear, intent obvious. She realized, he had been cruel on purpose but not...out of spite. Out of necessity. He had done what was necessary to keep Saya focused, to keep him...moving forward.

Green eyes passed from one face to the other. The same face and yet...she now saw what she couldn’t see before. Where one was ruthless, the other was cunning, but neither were...vindictive. 

She smiled. She understood. Two men, the same man, both complex, both misunderstood and...she cared for them both.

“I can’t.” She murmured to herself.

‘You have to’, the voice was angry this time. ‘You have no choice’, it scorned her. ‘You’ve become too comfortable here’

Cold hands ran up and down her spine. ‘Or neither, ever so much the better’, the voice sang, then disappeared as quickly as it had come leaving a cold uncomfortable chill in the air around her.

“Sakura. Are you...is everything alright?” Tobirama asked her, his hand still on young Saya’s shoulder, offering the boy his silent support.

“What?” Sakura almost stuttered. “I. Yes, I’m fine.” She looked away from his red eyes. She didn’t need him analyzing her right now. “Let’s go. You’re right we need to get going so we can make camp before nightfall.”

Saya kept a close eye on Sakura as they traveled through the thickening forest. She had an internal pinched look to her face that was similar to the pensive look his mother would have on her face at times. When his mother looked like that, nothing good ever came of it, but Sakura wasn’t his mother, maybe it was okay.

Maybe he was just being sensitive.

Sometimes his father would tease him. He would tell him he needed to be more of a man, to toughen up, grow thicker skin or he would never make it in their world. Their world, the world of the shinobi. Saya scoffed. He didn’t want to be a shinobi. He didn’t care what Madara said but...

He would learn what he needed to, to protect his sister, to protect Sakura but after that...no. He wasn’t a woman killer, he wasn’t a baby killer. His hazel eyes caught the corner of Tobirama’s gaze. Saya’s face flushed with embarrassment. Was he really the heartless baby killer they said he was? What was the truth and what was illusion. Saya bit his bottom lip. Who should he believe.

The Uchiha... Saya couldn’t seem to push the man’s words from his head.

_“War consumes all. Not just those who fight against the other. After you accept that, only then will you be able to truly protect those you care about.”_

Accept what, death? Saya couldn’t help but think that isn’t what the man meant. War consumes all, that was true but, all of what, people, emotions maybe? Saya’s head began to hurt. He was close but the man’s words still...what was he missing here, he wasn’t sure. A flutter of pink caught his eye. Sakura. 

War.

Had their war consumed her, had it killed her? Was that the look in her eyes? No. No, that wasn’t it. Saya kicked a rock and watched it ricochet off the trunk of a tree thirty feet away.

“Hey, not too bad kid. Let’s see if you can do better than that though huh?” Sakura was smiling at him.

Saya gave her a questioning look. “What are you talking about?”

“That rock.” Sakura set Sochi down and pointed to the rock he had kicked while he had been lost in thought.

“You used chakra to kick it right?” She gave him an odd look, her green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “You didn’t do it on purpose?”

“I just kicked it. I don’t know.” Saya shoved his hands in his pockets. The Senju was watching him with curious eyes making him self conscious. “I didn’t mean to.” He mumbled.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. I had to work pretty hard to figure out how to do that, it took me almost a month you know and you do it naturally. I’m impressed and a little jealous.” Sakura whistled appreciatively.

Saya flushed again, with deeper embarrassment. “It’s a family trait.”

“Really?” Sakura cocked her head to the side. “Genso Clan.” Sakura muttered, her eyes going to Tobirama.

“You asked him that before, didn't you, if he was from the Genso Clan. Who are the Genso Clan, I’ve never heard of them. Are they a large Clan?” Sakura asked Tobirama, looking at Saya.

“I thought they had been wiped out. There were rumours a small group of them had survived their last stand but no one has seen or heard of them in over thirteen years, until now.” Tobirama was looking at Saya as he spoke. “Our scouts said the Uchiha wiped them out but in light of what Madara told us before we left, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“In fact…” Tobirama added. “...it seems like the Uchiha clan head was trying to protect the few that remained of the Genso clan, so that they wouldn’t get wiped out.”

Sakura waited for Saya to say something, to volunteer an opinion, but he remained silent.

“You said Madara killed your grandfather and Madara said your father demanded the Uchiha assassinate your grandfather, as payment for his wounded clan members' medical care. The Uchiha didn’t masacre your clan did he Saya? You hold a grudge against him because you loved your grandfather but…” Sakura stopped speaking. 

Saya’s head snapped up and he glared at her. Behind the heat in his eyes, behind the hatred was…pain, regret and blame...guilt. Saya, she realized, blamed himself, but for what?

“It’s my fault. It was my fault they died.” Saya’s nails dug into the flesh of his palms, blood began to drip from his knuckles.

“Ni san, don’t!” Sochi began to cry. “Don’t tell them!” She ran to her brother and pulled at his arm tugging on it until she fell to her knees sobbing.

“Sochi, they need to know. They deserve to know what they are walking into.” Saya lifted his sister into his arms and held her to his chest, her head against shoulder, his arm under her bottom. He held her close, like a weapon.

“It was my fault. Not my grandfather, no, but the rest of our clan that he died to save...that my father had him killed to, to...” He stuttered and quieted himself.

Tobirama moved while the boy spoke, closer to Sakura. Waited, watched and listened.

“I led them to our home. It…” Saya swallowed. “...it was an accident. I was careless. I hated him so much. I hated our father. All he cared about was our bloodline, our lineage, our...production of a proper line of descent.” Saya grit his teeth and held his sister tighter to his chest, closer to his heart.

“Sochi had an arranged marriage.” Sochi tucked her head into her brother's neck, and wimpered noisily. “He sold her!” Saya growled.

“Our father sold her to the Land of lightning!” The boy’s eyes began to water but he refused to cry. “To be a brood mare for one of their wealthiest families claiming it would be a good life for her as long as she did her duty but…” He swallowed.

“When they came for her on her third birthday…” Saya bit his bottom lip to bleeding. “I could see what father refused to see. I could feel the evil in them and…I refused to let them have her. I...killed him and…”

“Who?” Tobirama interrupted Saya. “Who did you kill?”

“The messenger, the courier sent to retrieve her. The Lord couldn’t even come himself to pick up his son’s bride.” Saya looked Tobirama in the eye. “A shadow sat on the man’s shoulder. A foul beast, an evil beast.” His hazel eyes fell on Sakura. “A shadow, much like the one you carry with you. I can see it, it follows you, but...you can’t see it can you?”

Sakura watched Saya watched her, he knew, the boy knew. How?

“What?” Tobirama looked at Sakura.

“She walks in the light, but a shadow that is not her own, follows her.” Saya nodded just behind Sakura and to the right.

Sakura’s hand rose to her shoulder where she could feel the voice’s touch, and covered his hand with her own. “You can...see him?”

Saya nodded, his mouth tight. “Can you feel him?”

Sakura nodded, then winced as the hand on her shoulder, under her hand tightened painfully, it’s fingers digging into her joints.

“Sakura?” Tobirama hesitated. He hadn’t felt anything surrounding Sakura, only the boy. Had he been wrong? Were his suspicions misplaced? No...just because there was something following Sakura didn’t mean it was part of her. It was as the boy said, it wasn’t part of her, that’s why he hadn’t felt it, but the boy…

“There is something in you, something dark and ominous.” Tobirama eyed the boy’s reaction. “I felt it from the first, from our first meeting.”

“I know. You’re a Senju.” Saya said as though that explained everything. “Your brother though, he didn’t sense it did he?” Saya tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes pulling his chakra in and around himself with ease.

Sakura didn’t understand. “Saya, you said he didn’t know how to manipulate your chakra like that. You said…”

“I don’t. It does it for me. He does it for me.” He replied, his eyes still closed, a small smile forming on his lips.

“He?” Sakura and Tobirama asked at the same time.

“I call him...Inner.” Saya opened his eyes. “It’s a family trait.” He explained as Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with both of her hands. 

“Isn’t that what you call yours?” Saya nodded to her shadow, the voice just behind her right shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not that many updates this weekend, my figmental muse...went on holiday, apparently :)
> 
> ...I blame the eggnog and rum.


	36. Chapter 36

_Indra watched the woman as she righted herself on the obsidian platform, his tomes spinning in his eyes. His aunt? An easy claim and a foolish one as well. She was the same age as he was, if not younger. It wasn’t impossible but...the likelihood of it being true was..._

_His eyes swept aptly over her body. She had no chakra…not even a trace as though she wasn’t from Earth at all. He narrowed his eyes to slits._

_Why didn’t she have any chakra…he was missing something...but she wouldn’t have any chakra if she wasn’t originally from Earth, if she was from..._

_“You’re really, you really are an, Otsutsuki…” Indra watched her eyes sparkle as they met his. No chakra signature, still, then…_

_“You’ve never been here have you, to Earth, you’re from…” He understood her lack of chakra signature. She didn’t have one because...because she was from…_

_“Yes.” Sakura smiled, she could see where his thoughts lay, she had always been able to read emotions well. In her world, of detached sensitivity, it was key to her own survival. She had grown quite used to drawing on the emotions of the unemotional and coming to the, more or less, correct conclusion._

_“Is it true? Is it true my mother, she was here? Her son, you said your father was her oldest son, is he...can I see him? Is he still alive? What of her husband, is he...” Her eyes were so green, so innocent and so...Indra swallowed. Hopeful, she was hoping to see, to meet… She didn’t know, of course she didn’t know and he didn’t...want to be the one to tell her._

_Indra pushed down the sudden upheaval of emotion. How annoying, he muttered to himself._

_“He is not.” Indra told her, feeling for the first time in his life the need to explain himself. He didn’t like the feeling. It was foreign to him, and unwanted. He didn’t know where this need had come from, but as he watched her watch him he felt that he...owed it to her, an explanation. “He was very old and fell ill. He died two years ago. My brother and I are the only remaining descendants on Earth...and now you.”_

_Indra hesitated to ask her the questions pushing against his heart. He swallowed down the curiosity in favor of observing her further. He could tell, for all her innocence, she wasn’t a fool. If he pressed her the wrong way or too forcefully, she might leave. He couldn’t afford for her to leave. She may be the key he needed to take down Asura, she might have the knowledge he had been missing, the information about their heritage his father had refused him on his deathbed._

_He needed her to trust him and...there was something about her that…_

_She nodded to herself as he watched her, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips as though she were having a private conversation with herself._

_“Are there more of you coming?” Indra asked her. “More Otsutsuki or is it...just you?” If there were more of his grandmother’s clan coming he needed to know. His father had told them very little of their clan. He had always suspected it was because their grandmother had told them very little, leaving him with speculation and vague, broken imaginings._

_If there were more of them coming he would need to prepare himself, would need to keep them from Asura because..._

_“No.” Was her simple response, her head dropping with her eyes._

_Indra paused his internal thoughts._

_There was more to her story than she was telling him. It could be the uncertainty of traveling to a far away place, meeting him unexpectedly, or it could be a hidden agenda that only she knew of, a treat to him and his aspirations._

_Indra folded his hands in front of him and considered his options while she regained her composure. He could tell she was still shaken by his revelation of their relations, and no doubt, from her travels. He was under no illusions as to the magnitude of her travels. Hagoromo had told them little, but of the few things he had relayed to his sons...they both knew what lengths were taken for one to travel from there to...here._

_His eyes passed quickly over the crater her entrance into his world had created. He needed to make a decision and quickly. He had to regain control over the situation. Control that he could feel slipping rapidly through his fingers as he looked at her._

_The last two years had been dark ones for him. He had done many things, become many things he never thought he would be, could be._

_Watching his estranged brother thrive under the banner of peace and companionship while he suffered alone in defeat. He was alive, but he wasn’t thriving, he wasn’t progressing and it irked him, gnawed at him like…_

_For the first time since Asura had pushed him back and out of their village for good he felt light, he felt an unusual hopefulness and he wasn’t quite willing to let that little bit of light fade from his heart, not until he learned everything he could about her, their family and the real reason she was here on Earth._

_“Come with me. There is much that needs to be said between us and you need to rest. I am not sure what you were expecting to find upon your arrival here, but it is clear you were not expecting to find...me.” It was not in his nature to smile, that was Asura’s trait, but Indra extended his hand to the woman and helped her down from her platform with unprecedented sincerity. Yes, he had his own agenda, but there was no reason to alienate her, he did after all, have his mangekyo sharingan already._

_She reached out to him willingly, her small fingers wrapping around his larger ones. Soft, her skin was unblemished and so soft. His fingers twitched._

_Her hand was warm in his, a small shiver of conflicting recognition filled his senses as she slipped down from the platform oblivious to his thoughts, her other hand grasping his other hand as he lifted her to her feet. Her bottom lip was caught between pursed lips. She was drawing back from him too soon, her hands leaving his. He frowned._

_“It isn’t far.” He acknowledged her hesitation and purposely proposed the distance to his home to be the cause. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him. There were enough of those afraid of him already and with good cause. Sakura, his aunt...was like him. He could tell. Perhaps with her he could…_

_Indra shook his head to clear such non senseful thoughts. “Can you walk or…”_

_“If I said no, would you carry me?” Her eyes shone again, making him swallow. She was playing with him. He could see the mirth in her eyes, the twisting of the corners of her lips. Women didn’t pay him attention like this, she was clearly...mistaken in her assumption that he...what, he asked himself, unsure of her intentions. Why was she being so nice, why was she..._

_Indra’s heart pounded in his chest. He turned before he could say ‘Yes.’_

_“No.” Was his intentionally gruff reply. The mistake was his, she wasn’t flirting with him, the very thought was preposterous. He chastised himself, he was being ridiculous, he was being like Asura. His stomach rolled, a distasteful thought. He grimaced._

_Sakura laughed out loud, a response he hadn’t expected. A response unlike any other he had come to expect from those around him. Briefly, he wondered, was this what she had to offer him...not power, not information but...laughter?_

_Ridiculous, he chastised himself again. He needed to focus._

_Sakura smiled. This man was interesting. His seemingly gruff demeanor didn’t fool her. She could sense his wary hesitation, his questioning glances, his apprehension. He was being careful with her, but his interest was clear. He was more than curious about her. She giggled internally, who wouldn’t be? She was curious about him, his brother and their father._

_Growing up with her father and a maid as her sole companions she hadn’t had much interaction with other people and craved it. This man might think himself aloof, but she could see through his facade. He liked her. He just didn’t know it yet and she thought, despite his slightly arrogant nature, she rather liked him too. Nephew or not._

Madara woke up slowly bringing his hand to cover his eyes from the bright light flooding his bedroom in the new Uchiha compound.

They had moved the main house yesterday with the help of Hashirama and a small group of Senju. The rest of the Uchiha compound would be moved with the rest of the Senju compound over the next few weeks.

Both Madara and Hashirama felt it important for the main houses to be established first, to promote unity among the clans. They were under no false pretenses that it would be a difficult, if not impossible change for all of their clan members to get used to, accept and comply with.

There had, understandably, already been a few skirmishes between the former enemy clan members. Fortunately, no blood was shed. A few harsh words, numerous glares, threats and vulgar hand motions made, but no blood. Yet.

Both Hashirama and Madara knew it was only a matter of time before blood was spilled. The village was under construction, the clans were still moving...still segregated. Both clan heads knew the real trial would begin once both clans were completely moved into the new village and forced to interact with one another in close quarters.

Izuna had elected to stay behind with the rest of the clan while Madara insisted he accompany him to their new compound. Tobirama was with Sakura, the likelihood of them returning that evening was nil. Even so, Izuna hadn’t wanted to stay in their new home and Madara let him have his way, for now.

Izuna, like the rest of the clan, would learn to accept the inevitable. Their clan was changing with or without their consent, as was a side effect of peace, reconciliation and...love.

Love.

Madara and Hashirama had discussed a few of Hashirama’s more disturbing dreams of his past life, of their shared past but Madara had yet to have a dream of his own, such as the one he had just woken up from. He wondered what sort of dreams his other self had, if his dream meant that they were becoming one again. They rarely talked of such things alone.

Hashirama was their fixed point of focus, their go between when Sakura wasn’t there, or if something needed to be discussed that didn’t involve her directly.

Madara sat up in his bed, his hand still over his face and looked around his room. How much longer until his other self faded away...how much longer did he have to wait. He was growing impatient. Was that why he had that dream, to show him how impatient he was being, how he had always been impatient, how he had always been selfish and…

Perhaps he ought to feel guilty. Perhaps he ought to speak to Hashirama about what he had seen, about what he had dreamt of but…

Madara stretched his arms above his head and yawned. No, he would keep it to himself. More than likely Hashirama already knew. It was, after all, their shared past.

Shared past.

He could no more recall that past, than he could recall his mother’s face. No matter what past he brought forth in his head, all of the faces seemed blurred, all but Sakura’s. Madara pulled a shirt from the wooden peg on the wall over his head and shoved his feet into his pant legs. He wished he could remember. 

In his dream, they seemed to understand one another and yet, he knew himself well. No doubt he had betrayed her then like he had in this life, in her time, during her war, the one he had started. Hatred was such a powerful thing, he could almost feel it in his soul, a voided part of him that yearned for the war he had so willingly left behind in the name of, in the name of peace.

When. Where had it happened and why? What had made him so desperate for revenge. Both Sakura and his other self swore it was the death of his brother, the death of Izuna but Madara couldn’t help but feel there was more to it than that. That was only half of the reason, but he couldn’t recall anything from the future, only his past.

“...because it hasn’t happened, and won’t now.” He murmured as he threw back the shutters letting in the morning sun. Was that the difference? The only person who could answer his questions, was himself. 

Silently he hoped Sakura would find what she was looking for in the Village of Ruins. Silently he hoped Tobirama was the right choice of companion for her mission, and silently he bowed his head and prayed for her safe return and for the safe return of the children, who had been growing on him in the last two days.

Hashirama was waiting for him when he exited his home that morning, his long brown hair flowing easily over his shoulders in the breeze. Madara patted down his own spiky locks, wondering for the first time if his and Sakura’s children would have her beautiful soft, straight pink locks or his spiky, unruly, awkward black mess.

Something to think about, later in the privacy of his bedroom.

“Hashirama.” Madara nodded to his friend. “What brings you here so early in the morning?” 

“I had the most unusual dream last night Madara.” Hashirama pushed off from the tree he had been leaning against. “I dreamt of your first betrayal, when we were brothers. There is so much I have forgotten.”

“Hn.” Madara replied. He too had dreamt of their childhood, and then their older years last night. “Brothers with a history of betrayal, friends who met by the river forced apart by the blood of their clans…”

“A never ending circle.” Hashirama nodded. “When does it end? We sought to end it before and you left. We fought and you died. Only…”

“Only I didn’t die.” Madara understood where Hashirama was leading the conversation. “I plotted, planned and started the fourth great shinobi war.”

“Fell through a portal, through time and space to meet up with your younger self on the verge of battle causing the events to come about into a full circle.” Hashirama volunteered.

“Only to be stopped again, to rethink my intentions, all because of a little pink haired, foul tempered kunoichi.” Madara smiled.

“Are you worried?” Hashirama asked him. “Are you worried your other half will make the same mistakes you did Madara? You’ve seen the eyes of your clan as I see mine. They are restless, they are angry. They are confused with our choices. While some are willing to give peace a try, others are...less willing and quite vocal about it.”

“It’s hard to force a generation to forgive and forget Hashirama but they will, in time. Do you remember Sakura’s words? They turned against me because they wanted peace, it was I who couldn’t let the past lie, it was my selfishness that drove me to the extreme.” Madara crossed his arms over his chest. “Izuna lives. My clan will come to terms with peace as they did before, in my time and I will be there to understand the value of it. This time.”

Madara nodded to the treeline where his other self had just stepped out of the woods. “History will not repeat itself. He won’t make the same mistakes I made.”

“Tobirama still harbours his loathing mistrust of the Uchiha. Nothing I say will deter him from his opinion of our childhood.” Hashirama waved at the other Madara who was walking toward them.

“Let Sakura handle Tobirama, why do you think I suggest her accompany her and the children to the Village of Ruins?” Madara nodded to himself.

“If anyone can convince him, it’s her.” Hashirama agreed. “...but what of Izuna?”

“Sakura can handle Izuna as well. He respects her, he’ll listen to her.” The other Madara joined the conversation easily. “Once he sees the benefits of the village we’re making, he’ll come around.”

“Speaking of benefits of the village, word has come in from neighboring clans, they are concerned about our new peace treaty. They see us as an even greater threat than we were before.” Madara crossed his arms at the wrists behind his back casually. “It seems not everyone in the shinobi world wants us to be at peace.” He smirked.

“Of course they don’t. There was a lot of money to be made from our wars.” His other self said with amusement. “No war means no demand for weapons we can’t readily produce, food we don’t have man power or time to cultivate ourselves.”

“Not to mention the threat of our combined skill, wealth and power.” Hashirama rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “No doubt the threat of dominance is more prevalent to them than commerce is.” He said wisely.

“They will be worried and rightfully so that we will form our village together, then move out into the surrounding clan lands to claim them as our own.” Madara understood, it was what had happened before. 

“How did you combat this issue in your time?” The other Madara noticed the resignation on his other’s face and knew he held the answer to their foreseeable problem.

“We invited them to join us of course, particularly the smaller clans that were the most threatened by our peace.” Madara nodded to Hashirama as his eyes lit up at the idea of other clans joining them in their village.

“It was your idea.” Madara rolled his eyes at Hashirama who was grinning from ear to ear. “A good idea too.” Madara rolled his eyes again as Hashirama clapped his hands together.

“What are we waiting for then! Let’s get word out today! Right now! Let’s invite some of the closest clans to join us here in Konoha!” Hashirama clapped both Madara’s on the back and steered them toward his new house.


	37. Chapter 37

Sakura played Madara’s words over and over in her head as they walked at a slow but steady pace, for Saya and Sochi’s benefit, toward the Village of Ruins. Even though she hadn’t been the Hokage for very long, even though she was raised in a time of peace she wasn’t completely ignorant to how the shinobi world worked, her world, the world they were in now.

She had read the previous Hokage’s journals. However reading about it in the comfort of the Hokage Tower in her Konoha was a lot different than hearing about it first hand from one of the founders while standing beside a surviving victim of one of their trials.

This instance, this trial wasn’t in the journals anyway. This had happened before Konoha had been founded. She wondered, briefly, what else had Hashirama and Madara been forced to do as the clan heads of powerful , prominent clans to protect their people? Never before had she thought of the sacrifice or the conflict that they must have had to endure as leaders...and she should have, being a leader herself.

That however, wasn’t the only thing that was on her mind. 

_“I call him...Inner. It’s a family trait. Isn’t that what you call yours?”_

Saya’s voice played over and over again in Sakura’s head as they walked. She’d never met anyone who had an inner before. She didn’t believe in coincidences anymore than Tobirama did, experience taught her, coincidences simply didn’t exist in their world.

Inner. No, her voice wasn’t inner. She had asked the voice the same thing, had made the same assumption, no her voice was different but...a family trait, that’s what Saya had said. Sakura looked at Sochi, her little hand in hers and smiled down at the little girl, smiled down into her green eyes. They were the same color as her own.

Could they be...was it possible?

‘Do you yearn for family that much?’ The voice taunted her. “That you would try to connect dots that aren’t even there?’ A gentle hand caressed the side of her cheek, left soft touches against the back of her free hand, comforting her. 

‘It’s possible. I’m from the future. I could be related to them, didn’t you say that if anyone had a right to go to the Village of Ruins, it was me? Why else would you say that?’ She argued.

A deep sigh ruffled the hair on the side of her face as her shadow breathed out against her cheek. ‘Does it matter?’ He asked her.

‘Of course it matters. If I’m related to them, if they are family then…’ She hesitated.

‘Then nothing. What more can you do for them than which you are already doing? Being related to them changes nothing. No good can come of it.’ The voice paused. ‘What if you are related, what do you think will happen if you disappear?’

‘Disappear?’ She asked.

‘If you find a way back home to your own time Sakura hime, or if you die? So many terrible things can happen to a kunoichi my dear, surely you of all people know that. Why burden the children, for momentary happiness, for selfish reasons?’ The voice insisted.

‘You know.’ Sakura realized. ‘You knew. Tell me, enough of this intrigue and vague explanations.’

Another sigh, another swift stroke against her cheek. ‘I know more about you than you know about yourself and everyone around you, hime.’

Sakura paused, the snarky remark she had on the tip of her tongue was choked back. He sounded sad. ‘How long have you been with me to know so much?’ Hadn’t he only been with her a short time, did he know her...before?

There was a long pause. Sakura almost thought he had left her and began to relax. How foolish of her.

‘Mother sent me to look after you, what I told you was true, but before that…’ She waited. ‘Before that, I walked for a time with Obito Uchiha and Madara before him...and Indra Otsutsuki, your nephew.’

Sakura stumbled and almost fell. “What?” She spoke out loud. There was a pain in her abdomen, a tugging pressure building up. “Ungh.” She pressed her hand to her muscle, just above her belly button. She squinted her eyes, she could almost see...impossible.

“What is it Sakura?” Tobirama who had been walking in front of both Sakura and the children paused, turned and looked back at the pinkette, his eye brows drawing in at the paleness of her complexion. “Are you unwell?” His voice softened as he looked at her. All the color had drained from her face.

“I...no, yes.” Sakura shook her head. “Maybe, could we sit, for just a moment please?”

He opened his mouth to ask her another question but paused, biting his tongue at the stricken look on her face. Tobirama nodded, watched as Sakura pet Sochi on the head with a distracted sort of look in her eyes, and sat down on a fallen tree trunk beside her without a sound. 

“Let’s get some water, kid.” Tobirama called Saya back from the woman and his sister when he made to sit down beside them on the log.

The boy gave him a dirty look, looked like he was about to protest, but dragged his feet over to Tobirama who was already walking toward the river that ran in between the borders.

“Let’s give her a little space. Sochi will be fine with Sakura. Even if she’s distracted, she won’t let any harm come to your sister.” Tobirama assured the boy. Besides, he said to himself, there isn’t anyone around for miles but us.

Saya nodded and with one last look at Sochi and Sakura he followed Tobirama through the forest to the river.

“Sakura sama?” Sochi pet Sakura’s hand, her wide green eyes looking up at the woman in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m sorry Sochi. Just tired I think and maybe a bit stressed.” Sakura tried to smile at the little girl, she could tell Sochi was worried about her. “A lot has happened in the last few days.” In the last few months, she muttered to herself in her head.

“Is it the village?” Sochi asked. “Is it because we’re going home? How long has it been since you’ve been home, Sakura sama?” Sochi took a lock of Sakura’s long hair in her hand and started combing it with her little fingers.

“Home?” Sakura didn’t understand. Sochi was speaking as though, as though the Village of Ruins had been her home.

“Home, to the village.” Sochi repeated herself. “To the Ruins.” She clarified.

There was that tugging sensation again, this time, just over her heart. Sakura licked her bottom lip before speaking, contemplating the wisdom of her next question. “What do you mean Sochi? I’ve never been to the Village of Ruins before.”

Sochi giggled. “Of course you have, in my dreams. You’re the goddess that fell from the sky. The one the two brothers fought over. Just like in the stories. Saya says I’m just imagining it but I know I’m not. You’re her.” Sochi smiled as she continued to finger comb Sakura’s hair. “Pink.”

“The two brothers?” Sakura’s chest was beginning to hurt. What did this mean?

‘Well now, this is interesting. I wasn’t expecting them to remember.’ The voice was back.

‘Remember?’ Sakura asked. She was met with inner silence.

“In the story.” Sochi began to hum as she gathered more and more of Sakura’s hair in her hand and combed it with her fingers. “It was my favorite one, mom used to tell it to us before she put us to bed. Saya likes it too, even if he won’t admit it. It’s his favorite legend. He agrees with me, you look just like her.” Sochi tilted her head back and up to look into Sakura’s eyes.

“You’re her, aren’t you Sakura sama? I’ve never heard of anyone else with pink hair except for the goddess.” Sochi’s eyes sparkled as she smiled up at Sakura. “Pink hair and green eyes. You were the first, the first to have green eyes.”

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. “Would you tell me the story, Sochi? I’ve never heard it before.”

“Really?” Sochi climbed up into Sakura’s lap.

“Really hunny, would you mind? It sounds like an interesting tale. I’d love to hear it.” Sakura hugged the little girl to her chest, resting her chin on Sochi’s head so the girl couldn’t see the fear in her eyes.

Tobirama laid a restricting hand on Saya’s shoulder preventing him from stepping out of the treeline. Sakura knew they were there, he was sure of it, but he, like Sakura, wanted to hear the story and wasn’t sure if Sochi would speak if she saw him.

Pleased that she had Sakura’s attention all to herself Sochi pursed her lips and began to tell Sakura the story exactly as their mother had told her and her brother.

_“We’re a small clan now my lovies, but that wasn’t always so. Long ago in the time of myths and legends there was a goddess, a woman who was beautiful both inside and outside, a woman of courage and strength. Her name was Sakura Otsutsuki. She was the daughter of Kaguya, the mother of all chakra, but unlike her mother Sakura was gentle and kind. Our line is an ancient bloodline, dating back to the very beginning of chakra.” Their mother pulled the covers up over them, tucking it in under their chins with a smile._

_“Really?” Little Sochi asked her mother with big green eyes full of wonder and delight. “We’re related to a goddess?”_

_“We are.” Sochi’s mother smiled down at her daughter. “Sakura had green eyes, just like you do Sochi, and pastel pink hair the color of the blossoms for which she was named.”_

_Saya snorted. “It’s just a story, Sochi.”_

_Their mother smiled a knowing smile at her son. “All stories come from somewhere my boy. How do you think legends are made? In every fantastical fantasy there is some form of truth. This is ours. We weren’t always called the Genso Clan, we were once the Otsutsuki Clan. Over the generations, through countless wars, one of our elders decided to change our clan name, to ensure our survival.”_

_“A goddess though? Really?” Saya ignored the last few important things his mother had said in favor of disagreeing with what he thought was nonsense._

_“You know the platform in the middle of the village Saya, everyone does. Do you know the story behind how it came to be there?” His mother asked him._

_“No one knows. It just appeared one day. No one knows how it was even built. Everyone knows that.” Saya gave his mother a withering look. “What about it?”_

_“That platform is where Indra Otsutsuki first met Sakura Otsutsuki when she came to Earth, looking for her mother Kaguya.” His mother told them. “It’s where he first realized who she was, and where he fell in love with her.”_

_“Awww!” Sochi’s head popped up from under her pillow she had been burrowing under while her mother spoke. “They fell in love?”_

_Saya scoffed and muttered, ‘Ridiculous’, under his breath._

_“Not at first, but over time, yes Sochi. Indra fell in love with Sakura hime and she fell in love with him, only...his brother Asura Otsutsuki, you know about him I’ve told you the tale about their fearsome battle?” Their mother asked._

_Sochi nodded her head vigorously. Saya nodded too, reluctantly._

_“Asura, not knowing who Sakura was, met her by the river one day alone. You recall the Naka River don’t you?”_

_Both children nodded, entranced by their mother’s words._

_“Unbeknownst to Indra, Asura would meet Sakura by the river whenever he could, to talk to her and after a very short time, he too fell in love with her.”_

_Saya scoffed again. “People don’t fall in love that easily mom.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked up from the futon he shared with his sister. “It’s not a very realistic story.”_

_His mother laughed a sympathetic laugh, reached out and pet her son on the head. “One day my boy, you’ll meet a girl and fall head over heels for her. When that happens, feel free to tell me people don’t fall in love that quickly.” She teased her son._

_“Pfft.” Saya rolled his eyes again. “Me, fall in love. Ridiculous mom.”_

_“What happened next!” Sochi sat up and tugged on her mother’s arm urging her to continue the story._

_“Indra found out that his brother was meeting Sakura by the river and challenged him.” Their mother’s eyes wavered with emotion._

_“Which one of them won?” Saya asked excitedly, forgetting to pretend not to care._

_“Neither of them won. It was tragic. Sakura threw herself in between the two brothers. She sacrificed herself for peace.”_

_“For peace?” Sochi didn’t understand._

_“She died.” Saya told Sochi flatly. “They killed her didn’t they mom?” He asked as Sochi began to whimper._

_“Sometimes, peace requires sacrifice.” Their mother told them. “Over the years however, Sakura sama’s sacrifice was forgotten. The truth of what happened that day reduced to a fairytale, variations of the tale retold falsely as a love story, embellished, contorted and misconstrued.”_

_“So then, the platform in the middle of the village?” Saya asked their mother curiously._

_“Is the only physical reminder that she truly existed, that she was ever really here.”_

_Some sacrifice, Saya muttered to himself. Didn’t last very long..._

_“...and we’re related to her?” Sochi’s eyes sparkled. “Does that make me a goddess?” She asked her mother hopefuly._

_“Weren’t you listening Sochi? Sakura wasn’t really a goddess, they probably just called her that because she fell from the sky.” Saya looked to their mother for confirmation._

_“Well, she was a goddess in a way. Kaguya Otsutsuki, her mother was the very first wielder of chakra.”_

_“Hum, perhaps.” Saya laid his head back down on his pillow._

_“Wait, what happened after, after Sakura sama died?” Sochi asked, not completely satisfied with how the story had ended._

_“She was reincarnated, as were Indra and Asura. It was the will of Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths, or so the story goes.” Their mother smiled. “Kaguya wanted Sakura to be happy. It’s what every mother wants for her children.”_

_Saya watched as his mother bent over from her sitting position beside their bed and kissed Sochi, then him. “Who were they reincarnated into?” He demanded._

_If they were alive, if they were reincarnated then maybe, the Genso Clan could find them, ask them for help with..._

_“Goodnight my darlings. Sweet dreams.” Their mother ended the story before he could ask her._

_Saya watched their mother slide the door to their room open, then closed. He waited for the length of two heart beats before speaking to his sister. “Is that why they hate us? Is that why we’re leaving, do you think Sochi?”_

_Sochi turned toward her brother under the covers and blinked. “Maybe.”_

Sakura didn’t move, she didn’t speak. Sochi hadn’t told her anything too surprising and yet she was shocked. Dreaming of another life, seeing herself, Indra and Asura in her dreams was different than hearing a tale told to you about yourself from the mouth of an innocent.

“I’m not a goddess Sochi.” Sakura continued to hug the little girl to her chest. “I’m not sure what I am exactly, but I’m not a goddess.”

“You came from the sky.” Sochi pointed to the brilliant blue overhead as though that were proof enough.

“I didn’t come from the sky Sochi, I…” Sakura began to explain herself to the little girl.

‘Stop hime. She won’t understand.’ The voice was back. ‘Just like they never understood you.’

Sakura bit her bottom lip. ‘Indra and Asura?’

There was no answer.

Saya watched his sister and Sakura from the shadow of the trees. He could see it, just over Sakura’s shoulder, the shadow. He wondered, did he have one too? Was that what his inner looked like? Could he simply not see his because Sochi couldn’t see the shadows like he could? Like his grandfather could?

A hand fell onto his head. “Come, we need to continue our travels, we’re losing the light.” 

“Right.” Saya stepped out of the shadows with the Senju, into the light.


	38. Chapter 38

Hashirama watched his friend turn his cup in his hand over and over, the tell tale twitch of annoyance in the corner of his eye as they continued to sit in forced silence. It had only been four hours since Sakura had left and Madara was already counting the minutes until her return.

“Are you sure it was wise to let her go? Aren’t you worried what she might find?” Hashirama asked Madara.

“I wouldn’t have been able to stop her from going. You know that as well as I do.” Madara set his tea cup down on the table before him with a muted thud. “Stubborn woman.”

“...and Tobi?” Hashirama asked. While his brother was very skilled with seals and had extensive historical knowledge of the area surrounding the Village of Ruins Hashirama was under no false pretenses as to why Madara had insisted Tobirama accompany Sakura.

“You know why, stop playing the fool Asura. It was annoying then and it is annoying now. I know you remember what happened between us, between all of us back then, don’t blow smoke up my ass.” Madara glared openly at his brother, his friend.

“Ah, so you planned this?” Hashirama ignored Madara’s bark and picked his tea cup up, took a measured sip, his brown eyes watching the spinning red of the mangekyou as Madara pushed his chakra through his coils.

“Planned, no. Saw an opportunity, yes.” Madara pulled his chakra back from his eyes and sighed. “She needs to come to the realization on her own, if she hasn’t already.”

“It could backfire you know. Those children…” Hashirama pointed out the obvious between them. “They’re hers aren’t they? Her relatives?”

“Yes. I know.” Madara turned his head to look out the window. It was a risk, but a risk he was willing to take. “The gain is worth the possible loss.”

“...and if she doesn’t come back this time?” Hashirama gripped his cup. Madara, the Madara he had known in their time, wasn’t a gambler, particularly with something so valuable but this Madara wasn’t the Madara of his time. “What if she chooses to leave us instead of protecting us, like she did last time? You’re different than you used to be Indra and so is she. So am I. You’ll notice I haven’t made a move toward her?”

“You won’t and she won’t leave.” Madara said with more confidence than he felt. She might and they both knew it. “I want to do this right this time Hashirama. This time, you know how I feel about her, it’s different this time. I don’t want the cycle to continue. I want this life to be the last. Reincarnation is all well and good, but what good is it if I’m only reincarnated to hurt the woman I love over and over again?”

“Ah.” Hashirama nodded, that’s why Madara had insisted Tobirama go with her. An unbiased, logical man. Tobirama wouldn’t pressure her to stay, or to go.

“You’ve changed Madara.” Hashirama repeated himself, set his cup back down on the table and refilled it from the pot in the middle. “You’re no longer weighed down by selfish desires.”

“It only took me three lifetimes.” Madara set his cup down and refilled it as well.

“Better late than never.” Hashirama tried not to grin at his friend but failed miserably. He only hoped, wished, he could say the same for himself. He didn’t know for certain what the future thought of him, how history was written, but from the looks Sakura gave him, from some of the things Madara had told him...he had been painted as a far better person than he really was, had been, or possibly could be.

Sakura stood rigid on the rise that overlooked the Village of Ruins. Clearly visible, was the black granite platform of her dreams, the platform from Sochi’s story that Indra supposedly found her on.

Tobirama could see the apprehension in her eyes as he watched her face drain of color once more. What was it about this place, he wondered, that made her so tense, so cautious. It hadn’t been like this before when she had expressed a desire to visit the ruins. Something had changed. His eyes darted to the small hand in Sakura’s larger one. Was it what the girl had told her, the story about Kaguya?

Another twitching body caught Tobirama’s attention. The boy. He was quiet.

Saya had stayed quiet for most of their journey thinking about every possibility, going over every trap his grandfather had set to protect their village. He didn’t believe Sakura was a goddess, nor the woman from the tale their mother had told them. She was amazing, strong and different from anyone he had ever encountered before her but a goddess, no, he simply couldn’t believe it.

He still wasn’t sure if he believed they were related to Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths or to Indra and Asura, the fabled first real shinobi, but there was one way to find out if they were related to Sakura. At least he would get an answer to one of his questions, what it would mean, he didn’t know that either, but it would be a start.

“This way.” Saya slid down the incline on the heels of his feet, down toward the edge of the crater.

Sakura hesitated, just for a moment before following him down the very familiar sight before her. Large, it was a much larger crater than she had ever created herself, but the distinction was clear. This crater had been created with chakra.

‘I thought I didn’t have chakra, before I came to earth?’ Sakura asked the voice in her head, her guide.

‘You didn’t.’ Was the cryptic, unhelpful answer.

‘Then how did I make such a thing?’ She asked, presuming she did make it, she still wasn’t wholly convinced, dream or no dream.

‘Chakra is a living entity, it clings to those best suited for it, like a conductor. That’s why some have it and some do not, some have more and some have less.’ 

‘I thought all living things had chakra in some varying form or another.’ She didn’t understand.

‘A common misconception, hime.’

‘Then?’ She was getting irritated.

‘You’re so much like mother.’ The voice cooed to her, but didn’t touch her this time. ‘When mother ate the fruit of the kami tree she became it’s transmitter. The chakra flowed through her body down into the earth’s core. She gave the gift of chakra to her sons and regretted it.’ The voice sighed.

‘When she tried to take it back, she couldn’t, but nor could her greedy heartless sons take all of hers from her. Mother was clever, she kept it safe. She hoped that one day you would come, that she would see you again. She thought, you might be able to free her. It’s yours Sakura, all of the chakra she stored into the Earth before she was sealed away by her treacherous sons. All you need do is desire it and it will come to you.’ More cryptic words.

‘Mine?’ Sakura didn’t understand. “Can I free her? Did she come with Madara and I here, to this time to escape?” Sakura asked hopefully.

‘Do you not feel it? The energy returning to you?’ He asked her curiously, ignoring her other questions. ‘Here is where it is strongest. It should have overwhelmed you by now. You’re stronger than I thought.’ The voice was contemplative. ‘You’re mother would be so proud.’

‘I feel sick.’ She admitted. ‘The closer I get to the platform, the worse I feel. What of Kaguya though, is she here?’

‘Stop denying who you are.’ The voice answered her, once again ignoring her question about her mother. ‘Chakra doesn't lie.’

‘I’m not denying anything.’ Sakura protested. ‘Why won’t you answer me about Kaguya?’ She asked.

‘You are!’ He was angry. He was sick of her ignorance. 

‘After everything I’ve shown you, after everything you’ve seen…you still deny it in your heart, I can feel your doubt, your disbelief. You can no more lie to me than you can to yourself.’” His voice trailed off, defeated. ‘Stubborn woman.’

‘What about Kaguya though’ She persisted.

“Sakura.” 

Sakura looked up into Tobirama’s red eyes. They were at the first gate, she hadn’t realized…

“Sorry.” She mumbled, her eyes on the gate before them, a slow buzzing began to fill her head. “Is that a seal?” She reached out to touch the gate. Tobirama grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

“I thought you said you were a Hokage woman? What are you thinking touching an unknown seal!” His voice snapped her out of her trance. “Are all the shinobi of the future so foolish?” He chastised her, lashing out at her in his concern for her. She was going to give him an ulcer. He just knew it.

Sakura blinked. He was right, what had she been thinking. She hadn’t.

Saya watched the realization of her actions fall over her face. “Did you hear it? You heard it. So it’s true. At least that part.” So, maybe she was related to them.

Sakura looked down at Saya who bit his thumb and rubbed a drop of blood over the gate. “A blood seal.” He looked over his shoulder at her as the gate swung open. “You can open the next one. There are three gates total protecting the village. Sochi will open the last one.”

“Blood seal?” Sakura looked down at Saya’s hand, pressed her thumb to the bite and healed the small wound effortlessly.

“Only our clan can enter through the gates of the Village of Ruin, the territory of the Otsutsuki Clan.” Saya pushed the gates open without waiting for a reply. “Come on, you can open the next gate.”


	39. Chapter 39

Sakura stared down at the blood dripping from her thumb as Saya pushed the second gate open. What did this mean? Saya took Sochi by the hand and walked through the gate leaving Sakura and Tobirama to follow as they liked.

“Lord Second.” Sakura’s voice was hoarse as she looked once more from her bleeding thumb to the now open gate, then back at Tobirama.

Tobirama swallowed in complete understanding as to why she had used the title she was most familiar with, when thinking of him. If he hadn’t seen it happen with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it. 

“It appears, Sakura, that you’re a Genso and not a Haruno as you previously introduced yourself as. However.” He cleared his throat. “Whether or not you’re an Otsutsuki, still remains to be seen.” He added.

Saya rolled his eyes.

“So it’s possible.” She muttered to herself but loud enough for him to hear her. “It was...just a dream though.”

Tobirama waited and watched as the woman tried to pull herself together. For the second time, since he had met her, he felt guilty. He hadn’t stopped to think, since finding out who she was and where she was from how she must feel. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sochi and Saya, waiting for them by the third and last gate. 

There was time. Now that they were here at the village, there was no need to hurry. Tobirama took a deep breath and tried to be more like his brother for the first time in his life. “My brother used to have dreams when he was younger. Until a few days ago I thought he had stopped having these dreams, the dreams about what he claimed were from another life.”

Sakura’s head snapped up from her hand, her eyes wide. “Hashirama.”

“While far fetched and nearly unfathomable, it is possible Sakura.” His voice was uncharacteristically gentle as he spoke to her. “You could be an Otsutsuki.”

It was too much. Sakura stumbled backward, her mouth opening and closing on it’s own. Tobirama Senju was logical like her, methodical like her, and reasonable to a fault. Annoyingly so. Irritatingly insensitively so.

“So that’s why Madara suggested you come with me.” She laughed out loud. It all made sense to her now. “That damn Uchiha bastard.” She shook her head back and forth, amusement gaining ground over her initial anger at Madara’s manipulation.

Tobirama, like Sakura, was starting to understand why he had been chosen to come as well. He hadn’t given it a lot of thought at first, happy to spend some time with her alone, away from his brother, the two Madara’s and Izuna Uchiha, but now that he had some time to ponder their circumstances, he realized another reason Madara had sent him with her, instead of coming with her himself.

“I know you knew we were there. We heard the story Sochi’s mother told them when they were children, Saya and I.” Tobirama began, his eyes still on the children a little ways away waiting for them patiently. “I’ve heard that story before, only it didn’t end the same way as the one Sochi’s mother told her. There are a few different variations of the tale you understand.”

Sakura waited.

“In one version, the one that I used to think was the best version, the hime returned to the moon only to resurface two or three generation later looking exactly the same as she had when she left.” He told her.

“Left?” Sakura knit her brows together in confusion. “I thought Sochi said she died, was killed in the battle of the two brothers, Asura and Indra?”

“In that version yes but in the one, the one I’m referring to, she didn’t die, she left of her own free will after finding nothing but disappointment on Earth. Heartache, greed and betrayal.” Tobirama explained. “The hime was so distraught by the darker, more disgusting side of humanity, that she chose to leave instead of trying to help.” He waited for her to say something, anything.

“There are many sides of humanity.” Sakura murmured. “Yes, disgusting is one of them but…” She looked past Tobirama to Sochi and Saya. She thought of Madara and everything he had done since they had been trapped in that dead world together, how he had pushed the last of their food to her, refusing to eat himself so that she might live if only for a little longer.

“There is also love, empathy and devotion.” Sakura looked up into Tobirama’s dark red eyes. “...and friendship?” She asked him hesitantly.

Tobirama’s walls fell around him. He could feel the pulsation of his own heat thrumm throughout his body. Is this why his brother acted the way he did, for this feeling, this high? It was addictive, he would admit. If he were prone to such weaknesses as addiction. “Friendship, yes Sakura hime, there’s that.”

She nodded, tears pricking at her eyes. He had called her hime.

“Come, let’s not keep the children waiting any longer than we have already. I don’t trust that little Genso bastard.” Tobirama, just like that, reverted back to his stoic unflappable self and the spell between them was broken.

Light feet raced across the boarder of The Land of Hot Water, then darted west and south between the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpool. Tobirama could feel them, faintly if he concentrated. A minor chakra concealing seal. So, the boy was right, others were looking for the Village of Ruins too. Or, rather, returning to it, for the children.

“Sakura. We should hurry. I sense three signatures, barely hidden making their way toward us quickly. We have less than an hour before they reach the first gate.” Tobirama warned her calmly.

“Three? I sense four.” Sakura closed her eyes, bent at the knee and placed both of her palms against the earth pushing her chakra out into the abyss. “No, five, but you’re right, they are moving fast. Saya, the third gate if you please?”

Saya’s eyes went wide, but he nodded, pulling Sochi to the third and final gate. “Like I showed you Sochi, for Sakura.” He held her hand and smiled down at her. Sochi nodded, bit her thumb and swiped a small bead of blood across the wooden beams.

At once, the gate clicked and swung open revealing gardens more beautiful than Sakura or Topbirama had ever seen before. Sakura gasped, while Tobirama hummed his own approval at the magnificence before them.

“Like I told you before, we were a healing clan.” Saya ducked his head in embarrassment and pride. “Or, should I say, we are?” He cocked his head at Sakura, questioning her silently.

“I never knew.” Sakura whispered, her hand over her mouth. “No one evr told me. By my time, the basis of the legend was lost and…” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

She shook her head back and forth. They didn’t have time for this now. She could feel five different chakra signatures moving in on them fast. “Saya, you know what I’m looking for and why now don’t you? Is there, I mean, will you help me? Please?”

Saya hesitated and Sakura bit the inside of her lip. She understood now. Whether Saya believed his mother’s story or not, the Uchiha and the Senju were still the cause of endless pain for the boy and if he did believe the tale, he had even more reason to hate them.

“Saya, help me save Madara. He isn’t the same man who killed your grandfather, nor is he Indra anymore than I’m a goddess.” Sakura tried to smile at the boy.

“I don’t know if it will help you but…” Saya glanced around, his eyes falling to a well worn path between two gigantic trees. “...you're a member of our clan. Only a true blood relative could have opened the gates that protect the village. Follow me and step where I step. Sochi, you know where to step.” Saya walked in between the two trees and disappeared.

After several careful moments and one close call with a trap of spring loaded floor spikes Saya pushed several different stone deities heads back, causing a trap door to open slowly from the ground revealing a hidden stairway.

“After you.” Saya stepped back from the abyss and smirked at the white haired Senju. “Mind your step, or you might lose your head.” The boy‘s grin widened as Tobirama stepped past him, into the void.

Sakura lifted Sochi up into her arms and followed Tobirama into the tunnel, Saya bringing up the rear, snickering as he followed. Sakura knew there wasn’t anything to worry about. If there was, Saya wouldn’t have let Sakura go first while holding his little sister in her arms. Tobirama knew it too, which is why he was walking so quickly.

“Tobirama, do you even know what you’re looking for?” Sakura asked him curiously. From his recant earlier, it was clear he knew more about the Village of Ruins than he had previously led her to believe. It irked her a bit, even if she knew he had only been trying to protect her by withholding his knowledge from her. 

Sakura’s feet slowed. “Oh.” She exhaled. She realized he hadn’t expected them to get past the gates that guarded the only way in and the only way out of the village. He hadn’t known she was a Genso anymore than she had.

It was little comfort to her as they walked deeper and deeper into the earth one step at a time.

“Coming up,” Saya called out to Tobirama. “...there’s going to be a door on your left. Be careful when you step into the room, the ledge isn’t very wide and the water is deep.” Saya advised the narrow eyes Senju.

“Ledge?” Sakura turned around to ask Saya who merely shrugged.

“You’ll see. There’s a jutsu that lights the torches when it senses our chakra.” He told her. “I've only been down here once before when our grandfather showed me where our archives were. Sochi’s never been down here.” He added as they walked into the room on the left.

“Ack!” Tobirama’s foot fell through the permeable surface of the water. He threw one of his formula tags out the door he had just walked through, flashed, stepped, then turned back to the astonished group.

“Wow!” Sochi laughed and clapped her hands. “Do it again!”

“I’d prefer not to.” Tobirama cleared his throat, his ears pinkened from Sochi’s enthusiasm. “If we could?” Tobirama waved his hand past Sakura into the room.

“Show off.” Saya muttered as he walked past the Senju into the still water room.

“Incredible.” Sakura watched the torches light themselves one after another in a circle around the room. In the middle, was an obsidian platform. Sakura frowned. “I thought…”

“This is the real one, the original vessel that brought Kaguya's daughter to Earth. The one above is a decoy.’ Saya walked to the water’s edge, pulled his kunai from his pocket and cut a shallow cut into his palm. All four of them watched as one by one his blood dropped into the water to swirl and disappear.

Tobirama waited but nothing happened. “Are you sure you did it right?’ He asked quietly, unwilling to disturb the peace of the tomblike room.

“That was an offering to the goddess.” Saya looked over at his shoulder at Tobirama, then at Sakura. “Only a fool comes to the goddess with a request, without offering her something in return.”

“Request?” Sakura put Sochi down on the ledge beside her.

“You said you wanted to go to the Village of Ruins to find something for Madara Uchiha didn’t you Sakura sama?” Saya was being unusually formal and polite. “This is where you’ll find what you’re looking for.” He nodded to the obsidian platform in the middle of the lake.

“Oh?” Sakura looked out over the still water, the flames of the torches reflecting, glistening on its surface. “Oh.” She understood now.

“Sochi, stay here with Saya and Tobirama san. I’ll be right back.” Sakura kissed Sochi on the forehead and stepped out onto the water’s surface alone.

Sakura could feel it, the heartbeat of the earth through the soles of her feet. She held her breath, a mistake. It made her light headed, she faltered, her foot slipping into the water. She closed her eyes against the crashing waves in her head. It felt like dying. She felt like she was drowning.

“Sakura!” Tobirama called out to the pinkette from the shore. “Sakura are you alright? What’s happening?”

“She can’t hear you anymore Senju.” Saya’s voice was soft, barely audible but Tobirama heard him nevertheless. “You Senju and Uchiha, worthless scum, you can’t touch her anymore.” 

Saya looked up into Tobirama’s darkening eyes in triumph as Sochi began to rub her eyes and cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter ought to do it.


	40. Chapter 40

_“Saya why? You promised Saya, you promised that Sakura sama wouldn’t get hurt!”_

Sakura could hear Sochi crying to her brother.

_“Sakura!”_

Tobirama’s voice was muffled as though she were hearing it through a wall or a great distance.

“Tobirama?” She heard herself say but her lips didn’t move. No sound came out. It was only in her head.

The deep chuckling of the voice filled her head, making Tobirama’s voice more muffled, more repressed.

_“Sakura! Get up!”_

“Get up?” Sakura looked around but saw nothing. “Am I not standing?” Where was the water, the room, the underground? Where was she? “Tobirama!” She called out to him in vain.

_“Sakura stay where you are, don’t move Sakura! I’m coming to get you! Do you hear me! I’m coming to get you Sakura!”_

Tobirama’s voice was getting harder and harder for her to hear.

“Okay.” Sakura turned round and round, she couldn’t even see them anymore. There was nothing there. No Saya. No Sochi and no Tobirama. She was alone.

“Where is everyone?” Sakura stood still, her arms at her side as she began to tremble. Was it a transportation jutsu? A genjutsu?

“Tobirama?” Sakura called out to him again but he didn’t answer. 

“Tobirama? Saya? Sochi?” She called out one last time before sitting where she stood, drawing her knees up to her chest, she rested her head against them and waited.

‘What are you waiting for, beautiful?’, the voice cooed happily in her ear. ‘No one is coming. They’ve all left you. Look around hime. You’re all alone.’ He was gloating, she realized. Had he planned this? Was this his doing?

Sakura lifted her head and looked around. Like usual, she could hear him but couldn’t see him. ‘What did you do with them?’ She asked him, the buzzing noise was back. She flexed her fingers. She couldn’t feel her hands. ‘Are you...are you doing this to me?’

‘Me? No.’ He chuckled lightly. ‘You’re doing this to yourself Sakura.’ He purred into her ear, his breath hot against her skin. ‘You’re drawing in your mother’s chakra, I can feel it filling your pools, moving behind your byakugan, behind that seal in your forehead.’

He paused. ‘There are other things I could do to you, if you’d let me.’

‘Why would I…’ Her voice trailed off, she was getting tired, so tired. Her head bobbed over her knees. Her eyes began to close. ‘...I don’t want to be alone.’ Sakura’s head fell over her knees, her arms wrapped up around herself, her fingers tingling. She felt drained. She was exhausted.

‘I told you hime, you’re not alone. You have me.’ Warm strong hands pulled Sakura back against a solid warm chest. ‘...and I have you.’ Zetsu swept Sakura’s hair over her shoulder, tilted her head gently to the side and kissed open mouthed kisses down her neck as she slept in his arms.

It had been too easy for him to manipulate the boy, too easy to convince him that leading Sakura to the village of Ruins would help protect her against the Uchiha and the Senju. Passionate young men were far too easy to influence. Obito had been, just like Saya was now, just like Madara and Indra were before them.

Zetsu continued to kiss the side of Sakura’s neck over her shoulder as he worked the ties of her top loose. Like Sakura, he knew he didn’t have long before Danzo’s shinobi arrived in the Village of Ruins. He had been monitoring them for the last few weeks, moving through the earth between the newly forming Konoha and the borderlands, where Danzo’s father had left him in charge of monitoring the small family said to have ties to the former Genso clan head.

Another passionate, easily manipulated young man. Like his influence over Indra, Madara and Obito, Zetsu had managed to hide in the shadows, splitting his body with his other half to move in tandem. One had stayed with Sakura, while the other, Black Zetsu, had sought out the only other shinobi of this time that had the same dark and misleading ambition as the Uchiha he so vehemently loathed. Danzo Shimura, age thirteen.

Kaguya wanted her daughter to be happy. Zetsu wanted to fulfill his mother’s will. A world where there were two Madara Uchiha’s, where the kami of shinobi and his childhood friend sought reform, where there was still tainted bad blood between clans, was not the way.

‘I will right all the wrongs hime.’ Zetsu slipped Sakura’s unbound shirt over and off her bare shoulders. ‘I will take you back to the beginning, before the time of Hamura and Hagoromo, before our mother was sealed away.’ He promised her.

‘You came here looking for your mother.’ Zetsu pulled at the ties of Sakura’s pants and slid them down her unresisting hips and legs. ‘I promise, I’ll take you to her. I promise, we’ll be a family again.’

‘Madara…’ Sakura moaned out her lover’s name.

Zetsu frowned. He needed to keep control over her feelings and her thoughts to direct the flow of time. He didn’t have the power to take them back on his own. He needed her to do it with her mother’s increasing chakra flow, he would simply direct her where to go.

Zetsu laid Sakura on her back, gently setting her arms on either side of her naked body as he admired her figure. He would make sure she only thought of him. It was almost time. He could feel her pools filling to capacity, soon she would subconsciously take them back, soon he would have everything he had ever wanted.

‘You’ll never have met Indra or Asura. In the next timeline, they won’t have been born.’ He moved over top of her, spreading her legs open for his enjoyment.

‘I’ll give you everything hime, I promise.’ He entered her roughly, her body jerking with his intrusion. ‘The best part about all of this…’ He took her face in between his hands and kissed her lips. ‘...you won’t even remember them, any of them, just me and this.’

Zetsu moved within Sakura, his thrusts becoming more and more erratic as he panted over her skin. Resting his now solid weight on his forearms, he gripped her right shoulder with his right hand to keep her steady as he made the hand signs with his left.

‘I’m going to release the seal mother put on you. I’m going to take you home where you belong. A second son is not worthy of you, Hagoromo’s spawn are beneath you hime.’ Yellow eyes looked down at Sakura’s unresponsive face. ‘We can start over. A new beginning for both of us.’ He came inside of her, his left hand closing into a fist completing the final hand sign.

Kaguya’s chakra exploded around them as he remained embedded in her folds and kissed her lips.

Tobirama’s head snapped to the left, his eyes darting up to the floors above them. They were here. The enemy had arrived.

Saya’s eyes grew wide with fear as he looked out over the water, Ignoring Sochi as she frantically pulled on his arm, Sakura...was glowing, her eyes were opening.

He could feel it now, that dark intent, he could see it, the shadow the boy spoke of earlier. He could see it, hovering over Sakura’s body pulling her down, under the water into the glowing chakra. Green chakra, chakra of the Earth. No, Tobirama couldn’t believe it. No, Tobirama didn’t think it was possible. No, he wasn’t going to let that thing take her, not now, not when he was just starting to understand her, his brother...the Uchiha.

“No!” Tobirama roared, his fingers pulling formula tag after formula tag from his belt.

“Sakura!” He flashed to her side but it was too late.

“Sakura!” He reached down into the water but couldn’t grab her.

“No!” Tobirama lunged for the shadow, his one last hope...and grasped it by the wrists, barely holding it in place.

“Oh kami.” He grunted and gasped as condensed chakra shot from the shadow into his hand, over his wrist and up his arm, piercing through his heart.

“Sochi, I’m sorry.” Saya hugged his sister one last time before the kunai pierced their small bodies through the heart, neck and face. Saya dropped down onto his knees beside his dying whimpering little sister, the last thing his one uninjured eyes saw was Sakura, rising from the water cloaked in green before it closed forever.

“Sakura?!” Tobirama reached his other hand out to grasp the wriggling wrist of his foe. “What…”

“You never should have told me Zetsu, how my mother’s chakra worked. You never should have revealed to me, your familiar face.” Sakura lifted her arm up, her palm out stretched toward the Shimura shinobi that stood over the bodies of the children, their mouths hanging open at the ethereal sight of her glowing chakra encased figure.. “You never should have trespassed where you don’t belong.”

“Tobirama.” Sakura’s voice was soft as she looked down at the Senju still struggling with Zetsu at her feet. “Close your eyes my friend and let go of that filth. It will be over soon.”

Tobirama nodded without question, for once in his life, let go of Zetsu and closed his eyes against the pulsating flow of deadly chakra that exploded a moment later from Sakura’s outstretched palm.

The world went white with light.

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

‘Open your eyes Tobirama.’

Tobirama could hear Sakura’s voice, soft and calm...he could feel the air moving around him, through his hair, in and out of his lungs. He opened his eyes and his world spun around him. He gasped and clutched at the front of his shirt. ‘I can’t see anything, Sakura…’ He lifted his fingers to press hard against his eyes.

‘It’s okay.’ 

Cool fingers rubbed soothing circles against his temples.

‘We’re not really here, or there.’

‘Where are we?’ He tried to stand but found he couldn’t move. He tried to turn his head but she held him in place between her palms. ‘What have you done? What did you do Sakura, the children…’

‘Will be born again Tobirama, to a much happier life. I couldn’t fix everything. Some things can not be erased, but I did as much as I could.’

There were shadows forming before his eyes, his world was coming back into focus. Thank kami, he groaned to himself. He wasn’t blind after all. Sakura’s hands dropped away from the side of his head as she chuckled softly. He could see her now, not fully defined but pink, he could see her pink hair flowing out behind her, down her back and her eyes, green, vibrant green looking down at him with such…

‘Born again?’ He asked her, the fuzz clearing from his head.

‘Like you. Like Madara, Hashirama, Naruto and Sasuke.’ She smiled at him.

‘You mean…’ No, he rose to his feet and took her hands in his. ‘You’re…’

‘Goodbye Tobirama. Maybe I’ll see you again one day, maybe you’ll remember me.’

‘Wait Sakura…’ Her slender fingers were slipping through his hands. She was leaving him. The world around him was coming more and more into focus. He could see the small pebbles at his feet now, the water, the room, the fire of the torches but Sakura, she was fading, she was...disappearing.

‘Sakura please, what am I going to tell Madara? How am I to explain this to them?’ He didn’t want to be the one to tell the Uchiha he had lost her, that he hadn’t been able to protect her from, from…

‘Goodbye Tobirama.’ Sakura smiled one last time before fading into air and vapor.

“Tobi! Wake up Tobi.” Brown eyes peered down into red. “It’s not like you to sleep in. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever snuck into your room without ducking a kunai.”

Tobirama sat up in his bed in his room and scratched the back of his head yawning. “Hashirama?” His voice cracked, he winced slightly at the dull pain.

“Uh yeah, duh, come on. Madara’s waiting for us. I bet Izuna is already there.” Hashirama was pulling on Tobirama’s arm, trying to haul him up and out of his futon.

“Wait, what?” Tobirama pulled his arm back from his annoying brother, looked around his room, gasped and leapt to his feet. “What in kami’s name!” He looked down at his chest, his hands and then ran his palms over his face, his ten year old face.

_‘Goodbye Tobirama. Maybe I’ll see you again one day, maybe you’ll remember me.’_

“Are you ill?” Hashirama’s face was two inches away from his brother’s face as he inspected him. “You look pale, well, paler than you normally do. Do you want to stay home? I can meet them by myself if you want. I just thought you would have wanted to see Izuna, you haven’t seen him in a while so…” Hashirama continued to babble as Tobirama’s eyes got bigger and bigger, rounder and rounder.

“See Izuna?” Tobirama pushed his covers back and walked across his bedroom to the mirror on his wall to look at his reflection. He was ten. He was…

“Uh yeah duh, Izuna, you’re best friend, sheesh Tobi, what’s with you today?” Hashirama was already walking out the door.

“Wait Hashirama!” Tobirama ran after his brother who was already out the front door of the main house of the Senju compound and followed him down the road.

Tobirama noticed as they walked together, there weren’t any sentries on the walls of the compound, the front gate was wide open and there was outside traffic moving in and out of the normally closed off and heavily guarded compound.

_‘Will be born again Tobirama, to a much happier life. I couldn’t fix everything. Some things can not be erased, but I did as much as I could.’ ___

__“She did it.” Tobirama swallowed hard, then ran to catch up with his brother as they approached the Naka River where two very familiar figures stood waiting for them._ _

__“Hey! About time pale face!” Izuna Uchiha was waving his hand back and forth, a ridiculously stupid grin on his face as he waved to Tobirama._ _

__“Uh.” Tobirama, never at a loss for words, had absolutely none._ _

__“Madara, sorry I’m late. Tobi slept in, can you believe it? Tobi!” Hashirama greeted his best friend, snickering at his brother over his shoulder while Madara nodded and grinned back at him._ _

__“You okay? I know we haven’t seen each other in a while but you look kinda put out. Were you training hard while I was gone? Why are you so tense?” Izuna Uchiha ducked his head to look at his friend in concern. “Want to catch some fish together? Those two idiots are going to skip rocks, but I don’t feel like doing that. You like grilled fish right?”_ _

__Tobirama’s whole body felt like it was numb. Shock his logical mind told him, he was ten years old again, best friends with Izuna Uchiha apparently, and he was in shock._ _

__“Sakura.” He croaked. “Do you remember, Sakura?”_ _

__“Sakura?” Madara kicked a rock into the river turning toward his brother and his friend. “Who’s that?”_ _

__“Who is…” They don’t remember her...he frowned. Was he the only one who remembered her?_ _

__“Hey, look.” Hashirama grabbed Madara’s arm and pointed to a small figure moving behind the tree line on the other side of the Naka River. “Is that a girl? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? She has pink hair right? You can see her right?”_ _

__Madara squinted his eyes. “Looks like it, but I don’t sense any chakra signature from her. A civilian.” He scoffed, uninterested._ _

__“No, not a civilian.” Tobirama blinked back his joy. “Sakura.”_ _

__A warm summer breeze swept past the Senju and Uchiha boys as they stared across the river at a pink haired girl with green eyes who had just walked out of the forest, who was staring back at them, with a small smile at the corners of her lips._ _

__“Tobi? Do you, um do you know her?” Hashirama asked his brother who had been acting strangely since he had woken him up that morning._ _

__“Not yet.” Tobirama smiled, making the other boys give one another wary looks. “...but I will, we all will. I think we'll all be really good friends too.” This was a new life. He didn’t have to be the cautious, pragmatic one this time around. This time, he swore to himself, he was going to enjoy life more, live more._ _

__Madara squinted his eyes against the sun and looked across the river, his eyes bled red, black tomes spinning. “There is something...familiar about her, but I can’t figure out what it is.”_ _

__Tobirama choked on his spit, preventing the unhinged laughter that was lurking behind his barely contained reserve. “Maybe you’ve met before and don’t remember.” He tried to keep his voice casual._ _

__“No. I’ve never seen her before but...oh.” Madara rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, his cheeks warming. He knew where he had seen her before. In his dreams._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end


End file.
